Manchester United will be unable to play Chido Obi in Europe this season after the 17-year-old was not included in the revised squad list at the end of the January transfer window.
The Red Devils travel to Spain this week to play Real Sociedad in the Europa League – the club’s last hope of salvaging another wise abysmal season.
If United were to triumph in the competition, they would gain automatic qualification into the Champions League next campaign, regardless of their final place finish in the Premier League.
Ruben Amorim’s side are currently languished in 14th in the table with an ascension into the European qualification spots a practical impossibility, even if it remains a mathematical possibility.
Furthermore, Sunday’s exit from the FA Cup in the disappointing penalty shoot-out defeat to Fulham at Old Trafford also ruled out another potential exit into Europe next season.
However, the one bright spot from yesterday’s defeat was the substitute appearance of Obi from the bench, in the place of the disappointing Hojlund.
The Danish starlet, captured from Arsenal last summer in a significant coup for the club’s youth system, impressed with Obi able to fashion a number of chances for himself with textbook centre-forward play.
Despite his tenders years, Obi demonstrated a far greater degree of ‘fox-in-the-box’ prowess than either of his more senior teammates, Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee. And his manager’s post-match interview, Amorim commended the 17-year-old for “doing really well” against Premier League opposition and praised his natural strikers’ instincts.
“I think Chido did really well today. Of course, he was a little bit naïve in some moments, but you felt that, inside the box, he wants the ball – something the strikers have and he has,” the Portuguese coach concluded.
However, Amorim will be unable to call upon Obi’s services in the Europa League as United chose not to include the striker in their revised squad list for the competition last month.
New signings Patrick Dorgu and Ayden Heaven, also captured from Arsenal, were selected after being signed in the January window. But Obi was not considered a first-team option at this stage, and thus not included, Rich Fay (Manchester World) reveals.
Fay states, “Every team left in the Europa League was permitted to register three new eligible A list players by 24:00 CET on Thursday 6 February. United added January signings Patrick Dorgu and Ayden Heaven to their squad for the remainder of the competition but did not register Chido Obi as he was not considered a first-team option at that moment in time.
“Due to his age, it is easy to presume the 17-year-old could simply be added to the B-List that effectively allows an unlimited amount of youngsters to be added to the squad before each matchday. However, Uefa rules state that only ‘club-trained players born on or after 1 January 2003, who have been with their employers for an uninterrupted period of a minimum of two years, are allowed to be considered for selection’ on the B-List. Obi is therefore not eligible to feature on the B-List due to the fact he only joined the club from Arsenal last season.”
It’s a major blow for United as the 17-year-old produced such a positive impact in his first meaningful opportunity for the first-team domestically, that he undoubtedly would have been able to do so again on the continent.
However, it’s a damning indictment on the senior strikers at Old Trafford that an academy player offered a more refined example of centre-forward play than either Hojlund or Zirkzee. But Amorim will now be reliant upon the struggling duo to give the Reds their last hope of success this season.
Featured image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images
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Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
