The days ahead look bright for the senior team but the Manchester United U18s never stopped being bright since the start of last year.
After winning three titles last year, they added arguably the most fearsome attacking talent in the country, signing Chido Obi-Martin and he’s set the house on fire right away.
Obi-Martin’s hat-trick on debut start set pulses racing and he has already been called up the Man Utd U21s squad as a result. His thirst for goals has made him a menacing prospect.
Obi-Martin is developing well at United and if he continues his goalscoring form up the ranks, he could soon find himself involved with the first team.
Ruben Amorim’s inclination towards bedding in young talent at Sporting speaks for itself and on this international break, Denmark U18s coach Morten Eskesen has revealed the next step for his prodigy in national ranks-
Chido Obi-Martin’s next step
As he awaited the confirmation of his move to Old Trafford in the summer, Obi-Martin lost precious time that he would have otherwise spent training with his new teammates in state-of-the-art facility.
As a result, he wasn’t called up to the Denmark U18s squad either, as both club and country preferred that he wait for some stability before resuming international duties.
Now that he has settled in at United and doing what he does best, score goals, the way is clear for him to get involved with the national team as well.
Mosten Eskesen, the Denmark U18s manager, spoke to Danish outlet Tipsbladet and revealed Obi-Martin’s next step.
Eskesen said: “It is important that the players we have in the national team play in clubs. In the end he didn’t participate because he hadn’t played for a long time. So that he was not injured, we chose that he should be built up quietly.
“He is in a good place after being without a club for a few months. He has not played 90 minutes since he was with us in Sweden in September to play.
“Since then he has trained for himself and has then been built up at United after he has changed there. He has not yet played 90 minutes, but he is close, and we are in close cooperation with United in relation to having all his physical data sent over, and looking at how he has played.
“He wants to be able to go 90 minutes now. That’s his next step and he might do it for us in the next few games.”
Building up Chido Obi-Martin at Man Utd
It is easy to look at Obi-Martin’s goalscoring record and get carried away, especially with United’s senior contingent of strikers not looking so hot at the moment.
However, if his games for the U18s have shown anything, it is that his undoubted generational talent is also aided by a clear physical advantage at that level.
| Competition | Games | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|
| U18 Premier League | 4 | 4 | 1 |
The striker towers over most opponents and looks like a man among boys at times when he is at full pelt. United have had a case like this previously, when Joe Hugill dominated the youth circuit but couldn’t keep that up with promotions.
Add to it Obi-Martin’s stop-start summer and the club seems to have made the perfect decision along with his national team to build him up slowly and steadily.
There needs to be a balance between challenging him constantly and fast-tracking him before he’s ready, leading to loss of confidence in ability.
Consistent appearances with the U18s with occasional stop for the U21s while playing regularly for the Denmark U18s looks like it checks all the boxes at this stage of his development.
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