Chido Obi has had a one-on-one session with a former Premier League striker as the Man Utd youngster continues his development.
Chido Obi
Chido Obi has been training with Papiss Cisse
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Young Manchester United striker Chido Obi has had a personal training session with former Premier League striker Papiss Cisse, with the 18-year-old keen to continue adding elements to his game. Obi broke into the United first team when injuries hit last year, but his development has continued at academy level this season, where he has eight goals in 21 games across various competitions.
The former Arsenal youngster was videoed speaking to Cisse in a session arranged by personal skills coach Kwaku Ohemeng, who works with several players in the north west, including United winger Patrick Dorgu.
Cisse scored 44 goals in 131 appearances for Newcastle United and also had spells in Germany, China and Turkey. Now 40, he has settled in Cheshire and occasionally turns out still for Wythenshawe Vets.
In the video, Cisse talks through body positioning with Obi as he passes on advice to the teenage striker, who has been a prolific goalscorer at age-group level.
Obi made eight appearances for United's first team last season, with Ruben Amorim struggling with a lack of options and rotating his side as focus turned to the Europa League. Although he didn't score in his 212 minutes on the pitch, he came close to netting against Fulham in the FA Cup and showed flashes of the talent that has marked him out as one to watch in the academy.
Earlier this season, then Under-21s head coach Travis Binnion discussed the challenges facing Obi after his first-team exposure and the potential he felt the young striker had.
"It's not easy for him because people look at him like he's a big kid. The key thing there is he's still very young, he's still learning his game," he said.
"Because he's had exposure with the first team, I think people expect performance levels that are really consistent and really high. You've got first-team players across the country who don't do that.
"The expectation on him is high, but he has to deliver the basics, and what he did from minute 30 to 80 when he came off is he pressed, he ran and he occupied two centre halves to give other players space on the pitch to exploit, which is why we dominated the ball.
"I'm really pleased with him and we haven't even scraped the top of the iceberg with him. He's got loads to come. That will come from how he sees the game, keeps working hard and recognises he has stuff to develop because that's always a challenge when you have that first-team exposure and then you go away and have to start working on things."
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