Chido Obi scored four goals for Manchester United's Under 21s on Monday, a matter of weeks after the club turned down loan offers for the teenage forward
Manchester United forward Chido Obi in action
Manchester United forward Chido Obi in action(Image: Getty Images)
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Manchester United are poised to send Chido Obi out on loan next season after making the 'conscious decision' to reject offers for the 18-year-old sensation in January.
Obi signed for United in September 2024 after spending two years at Arsenal and he was fast-tracked into the club's first-team set-up with Ruben Amorim's side struggling in the final third.
Indeed, the Dane ended up making eight senior appearances last season, with one coming from the start.
But United decided last summer to move him back into the academy to continue his development.
As the Manchester Evening News reported earlier this month, that plan was set before the 2025/26 campaign to keep the youngster away from the spotlight and have him as a focal point for the Under 18s and Under 21s.
And, according to the Daily Mail, United stuck to that plan in the January transfer window after deciding to not entertain loan offers for Obi. They felt as though Obi would benefit more now from developing his game to go beyond physically bullying opponents in the U18s and U21s this season.
While Obi is due to be United's main man in the U21s, at least, for the remainder of the season, the Mail add that a loan move is viewed as 'more likely' going into the 2026/27 campaign.
Obi has been in excellent form for United's younger age groups this season and he continued his fine scoring spree by netting FOUR for the U21s in a 4-1 win at Leicester City on Monday.
Chido Obi is viewed as a Manchester United star of the future but has struggled for first team minutes this season.
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As United's first-team were in Premier League action against Everton, Obi was firing in the goals for the U21s against Leicester, with the forward powering the Reds to a fifth win in eight.
There is a feeling behind-the-scenes at United that having Obi as part of the U18s and U21s is going to benefit him in the long run, with Darren Fletcher having him as the starting No.9 for the club's FA Youth Cup run. The Reds are into the quarter-final of that competition and face Sunderland or Brighton next month.
Speaking on Obi's future back in September, United U21s coach Travis Binnion told Manchester Evening News: "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. 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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