Chido Obi-Martin scored a hat-trick inside quarter-hour of his debut for Manchester United’s under-18s in opposition to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
The 16-year-old former Arsenal ahead wanted simply 14 seconds of his first recreation for his new membership to open the scoring, making the most of a mistake within the Forest defence earlier than rounding the goalkeeper to attain.
He added his second 4 minutes later when a cross into the field wasn’t totally cleared earlier than he intercepted and fired a managed end into the underside nook.
The hat-trick was accomplished when he turned dwelling first time from a James Scanlon cross after 1 / 4 of an hour at Carrington.
With United 5-0 to the nice at half-time because of additional targets from Scanlon and Amir Ibragimov, Obi-Martin was then withdrawn. Jim Thwaites added a sixth within the second half in what ended a 6-0 victory for Adam Lawrence’s facet.
Chido Obi-Martin bagged a hat-trick inside the primary quarter-hour of his United debut! 🤌✨#MUFC || #MUAcademy
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 26, 2024
The Athletic first revealed United’s curiosity in Obi-Martin over the summer time earlier than he was formally added to the membership’s group of first-year students earlier this month following the expiration of his schoolboy phrases at Arsenal.
The striker spent two seasons within the north London facet’s youth academy after becoming a member of from Danish membership KB.
He was extremely regarded at Arsenal however did not agree phrases on a brand new deal that might have been a scholarship earlier than switching to knowledgeable contract on his seventeenth birthday, which is subsequent month.
A junior worldwide for England and Denmark, he scored 10 targets in a 14-3 win for Arsenal’s under-16s over Liverpool in November.
‘Obi-Martin already making up for misplaced time’
Evaluation from Manchester United correspondent Mark Critchley
It’s not arduous to see why Obi-Martin is so dominant at this stage. Although he’s nonetheless simply 16-years-old, he has all of the bodily attributes to overwhelm opposition defences at under-18s stage.
Simply take a look at United’s fifth aim in opposition to Forest, scored by the highly-rated Amir Ibragimov, however created by means of by Obi-Martin’s spin on the midway line and surge down the appropriate.
However it’s his goal-scoring report that has caught the attention, and the managed, knowledgeable ending for every of his three on Saturday confirmed that he’s not getting by on brute drive alone.
After 29 in 17 league matches for Arsenal’s under-18s final season, it was no shock to see him open his account for his new membership so rapidly.
Obi-Martin’s signing was an enormous coup for United’s academy this summer time, and although his begin to life at Carrington was delayed till now resulting from Premier League purple tape, he’s already making up for misplaced time.
GO DEEPER
Obi-Martin: Arsenal 16yo who scored seven in a single recreation – and 10 in one other
(Harriet Massey/Newcastle United by way of Getty Photographs)
