18-year-old forward Chido Obi has not been given any Premier League minutes this season despite being on the fringes under former Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim
Manchester United youngster Chido Obi scored four goals for the under-21s against Leicester City on Monday as United’s first-team were in action at Everton. United fast-tracked Obi into the first-team set-up after his arrival from Arsenal last season with Ruben Amorim’s side struggling in the final third.
The Danish youth international made seven first-team appearances, but the club made the decision to move him back into the academy set up 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.
Obi has featured in just one senior matchday squad this season, the 1-1 draw with Wolves at Old Trafford, but was an unused substitute in one of Amorim’s final games in charge of the club.
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He’s been a regular in the EFL Trophy, National League Cup, FA Youth Cup, Premier League 2 and International under-21s Cup, with Obi believed to be learning more in those academy fixtures.
There have also been fewer first-team games this season due to the lack of European football and early cup exits, with Obi benefitting from that decision.
United reaped the rewards against the Foxes, with Obi opening the scoring in the 37th minute. Their lead would last just a few minutes with Leicester equalising through Lorenz Hutchinson.
That didn’t deter the young Reds, with Obi responding almost immediately, scoring his second goal in added on time at the end of the first half.
Things went from bad to worse for Leicester when Reiss Khela was shown a red card in the 75th minute. United turned the screw and put the result beyond any doubt with Obi completing his hat-trick in the 88th minute, scoring another five minutes later to wrap up the scoring and bag his fourth.
The youngster took to social media to pose with the match ball, holding four fingers in the air to symbolise each goal scored.
United have been keen to stress the importance of taking their time with the young striker. Speaking back in September, Travis Binnion told the 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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Binnion added: “When you score as many goals as he has throughout his relatively short life, you can define yourself by goals. And we all know there’s probably only two or three strikers in the world who get two goals in every three games.
“If you’re used to scoring two goals in every game, then recognising what the role is, how you have to go around it takes a little bit of time. He is dying to be a footballer.
“He is hungry. And he’s still learning the game, learning how to project himself and learning how to play within a team, the club’s shape and system, so there’s still lots for him to do. The key is he wants to play, he wants to do well and wants to train. He could train every day if he could.”
