Manchester United may be 24 points behind Arsenal in the Premier League, but they reportedly had the London club’s hierarchy rattled after pinching wonderkid Chido Obi from their rival’s academy.
Despite not touching the ball, the 17-year-old made his Premier League debut on Sunday in United’s desperate 1-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.
And according to The Telegraph the fact that the young striker, who has scored goals at a prodigious rate at every level of youth football, stepped out for United and not Arsenal would have set teeth gnashing at the Emirates.
Losing Obi to the Red Devils is “a source of considerable irritation for the club’s executives,” who were aware of the Danish teenager’s talent and “had worked hard in their attempts to keep him.”
The report continues that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta “personally intervened” to try and keep hold of the player, but those efforts were in vain.
Obi and his advisors were understood to be concerned over his pathway to first-team football at the Gunners, who are believed to have presented to the player a plan that had him moving from the U18s to the U21s this season, with opportunities to join first-team training.
This did not match Obi’s ambition, and although receiving the briefest of cameos in a game which will be remembered for all the wrong reasons, he has already made his senior debut for United.
The report also notes that United were “willing to go significantly further with their financial offering than Arsenal,” who may have done things differently had they foreseen their current striker crisis.
Obi spent two years in the Arsenal academy after moving to England and was snapped up by United last summer off the back of netting 32 goals in 21 games for Arsenal U18s.
Since the move, he has scored 12 in 9 for United’s U18s, and made two appearances for the U21s. He made the same amount for Arsenal U21s.
Ruben Amorim’s side is chronically short of goals, and fans are clamouring for Obi to be given a chance to translate his scintillating form into first-team action, but the manager is understandably keen to protect the teenager.
Nevertheless, the Portuguese tactician is known for putting his faith in young players and is desperate for more firepower so should Obi continue to shine it is unlikely that the three minutes he played at the weekend will be his last for the season.
United returned to the Arsenal academy in January, securing Ayden Heaven as one of two winter additions to Amorim’s squad. The Gunners are said to be “ultimately comfortable” with the 18-year-old’s departure, given the strength they already have in this position.
Featured image Matt McNulty via Getty Images
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Joe Ponting
Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried.
