Good performances but bad results, that is the five-word summation of Manchester United’s travails this season so far, having played in four competitions.
Frustrating draws combined with unfortunate losses have already seemed to put Erik ten Hag on the brink, and the need for positive results is dire.
The main cause for concern for the manager, and the root cause of these struggles is wastefulness in the Manchester United squad.
United are top of the league by some distance when it comes to big chances missed, and are second to only Southampton in terms of underachieving their expected goals.
Rasmus Hojlund’s return should go some way towards rectifying that, while the likes of Bruno Fernandes should ultimately get back to the level fans know they have.
In the meantime, United have just made a move that could solve that problem not now, but definitely near the beginning of 2025.
Man Utd move to solve goal woes
Underperforming the expected goals by almost five with only five league games, so how about signing a player who scored 32 in 20 last season?
That bit of statement is missing a bit of context, but scoring goals is almost an instinct sometimes, you either have it or you don’t.
For example, Joshua Zirkzee is unlikely to ever be a striker that gets United 20 league goals a season, Hojlund definitely has the potential.
United have just sealed a move who scores goals for fun and has done so ever since his stats started getting recorded.
It was recently reported that United’s move for Chido Obi-Martin has received ratification from the Premier League and the Danish wonderkid is set to begin officially at Old Trafford.
Obi-Martin doesn’t turn 17 until December, so expectations will naturally be tempered especially at the beginning.
However, Obi-Martin’s goalscoring record is incredible, almost video game-like, for Arsenal and Denmark’s youth sides.
Moreover, his physicality is already at the level where, unlike someone like Harry Amass, Ten Hag won’t be afraid to throw him in at the deep end and let him swim.
Patience needed but potential tantalising
Of course, it must be said that Chido Obi-Martin hasn’t played a game for any club since his departure from Arsenal as a free agent, which was three months ago.
He has been training alone since then which can never replicate the effect of working with a club and playing competitive games.
Therefore, he will be expected to move into the U18s side with sporadic appearances for the U21s as he gets used to his new surroundings and teammates.
The striker probably won’t be ready for a step up until at least he starts dominating the U18s circuit the same way he did for Arsenal, which is when United might move him to the U21s.
From there, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that he makes his senior team debut in the early stages of the FA Cup in 2025.
All this depends upon the player’s ability to continuously make a step upwards as he is challenged to do so but then again, a promise of more opportunities and potentially being fast-tracked is why he came to Old Trafford.
Therefore, it is clear that there will be opportunities. It is then up to him to make the most of his opportunities and not look back.
His arrival couldn’t be timed better anyway as United fluff chance after chance to leave points on the table seemingly every match day.
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