It was another night to forget for Manchester United as they slumped to their 12th Premier League defeat of the campaign, this time to Tottenham Hotspur at their home ground on Sunday.
Andre Onana was culpable for the only goal scored as his weak parry fell straight to James Maddison, who knocked in the rebound. The visitors had chances to equalise with Alejandro Garnacho guilty of blazing his effort over from 10 yards out.
The Red Devils were in pretty bad shape coming into the contest as standout star Amad picked up a season-ending ankle injury while as many as four midfielders missed out due to injury and sickness.
As a result, Ruben Amorim was forced to turn to Carrington in abid to plug those gaps in the squad and as many as eight academy stars made the matchday squad on Sunday.
Chido Obi’s debut
And the only bit of good news from the game came in added time when the Portuguese brought on red-hot academy striker Chido Obi for his first team debut.
While the 17-year-old could not prevent his team from crashing to yet another loss, he became the club’s 252nd academy graduate to make his debut for the senior team.
At 17 years, 2 months, and 18 days old, Chido Obi would become Manchester United’s third youngest Premier League appearance-maker – behind Angel Gomes (16y, 8m, 20d) and Shola Shoretire (17y, 19d) – if he were to make his debut off the bench today.
He also has 5 months and 4… pic.twitter.com/G1ArMxtxHO
— SCOOP. (@AcademyScoop) February 16, 2025
In the process, he (17 years, 2 months, and 18 days old) also became United’s third youngest Premier League debutant behind Angel Gomes (16y, 8m, 20d) and Shola Shoretire (17y, 19d).
The Dane has been a revelation since his summer move from the Gunners, netting 12 goals in as many games including seven strikes in three FA Youth Cup games.
More to come
His most recent appearance for the U18s saw him net a hat-trick against Chelsea and fans had been clamouring for Amorim to hand him minutes in the wake of Rasmus Hojlund’s disastrous form.
Even though he only got a few minutes, hopefully, this will whet his appetite for more senior minutes and he will work even harder in the days to come to try and impress the head coach.
Given Hojlund’s run in front of goal, Amorim must keep the 17-year-old in his thoughts for the games to come. Surely he cannot do worse than the 22-year-old.
Chido Obi also has five months and four days to become the club’s youngest ever Premier League goalscorer. A record he must be keeping an eye on.
Feature image Matt McNulty via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
