Teenage striker Chido Obi-Martin made waves on social media last season by scoring goal after goal for Arsenal’s youth teams, but after turning down the chance to sign his first professional contract with the Gunners this summer, he has chosen to continue his career at Manchester United instead.
The transfer took a long time to happen as compensation had to be agreed because he is still just 16 years old and the Premier League had to ratify the move, but Obi-Martin will now take the next step of his career at Old Trafford — initially with the under-18s, before looking to make the move up to the first team.
What do we know about him? Screenshots of his exploits did the rounds last season as fans marvelled at how many times his name appeared on the scoresheet. Obi-Martin hit the headlines as he scored 10 goals on his own in an incredible 14-3 win over Liverpool’s U16s last November; then, between the start of March and the end of May, he netted 28 goals in 10 games in the U18 Premier League.
But what are United getting, and Arsenal losing, outside his prolific goal scoring? We asked two people who have seen him play: ESPN’s Tor-Kristian Karlsen, a former scout and chief executive, and also a professional coach who works with players from academy to Champions League level, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity because of the age of the player.
Born in the suburbs of Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, to a Danish mother and Nigerian father, Obi-Martin moved to England in 2020. Though he had stood out at youth level for club side FC Copenhagen, the family’s relocation was the result of the then-13-year-old and his younger brother Chuck joining his mother for a year or two in London while she was studying to become a nurse. Those initial plans were soon altered when Arsenal offered him terms for a scholarship in 2022.
Obi-Martin’s impact in the Arsenal academy (across five age groups, we might add) has been extraordinary. He famously hit the net 10 times against Liverpool in a 14-3 win for the U16s, and he scored 32 goals in 18 games for Arsenal’s U18s last season against players typically two or three years his senior.
At the international level, Obi-Martin was nominated for UEFA’s Team of the Tournament at the U17 European Championship finals while playing for Denmark earlier in the summer. He can choose to play for the senior teams of Denmark, Nigeria or England in the future.
Signing with the Elite Project Group agency — which also represents the likes of Folarin Balogun, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka — earlier this year, Obi-Martin’s profile has risen considerably, to the point where he has a boot deal with Adidas and over 200,000 followers on Instagram. But he will not be able to sign his first professional club contract in England until his 17th birthday in November.
Analysis of Obi-Martin’s game begins with the glaringly obvious: At 6-foot-2, he has a physical advantage over his peers. It’s one thing to have a physical advantage; it’s another thing to use it properly. But he has nailed it, turning his physical advantage into something dangerous for the opposition to contend with.
“There’s little doubt that he has taken full advantage of his early developed physique at academy level,” Karlsen says. “A fair chunk of his goals originate from him running on to deep passes. He beats the offside line with an excellent sense of timing; his off-the-ball movement is outstanding.”
One particular move, when he looks to make a movement off the outside of the centre-back, receiving the ball in stride and then either bursting through or baiting the defender into a challenge that he can shift past, is particularly impressive. But while he gets himself into goal-scoring positions, he has also shown an ability to convert those opportunities too.
“From a plethora of eye-catching skills, it’s the calmness of his finishing that stands out,” Karlsen says. “Unlike most of his peers, Obi-Martin is rarely in a hurry in front of goal. Rather than responding to the natural rush of blood with a premature effort, he maps out the optimal finishing opportunity he can achieve from the situation.
“At the moment of execution he also tends to avoid the urge to do something flamboyant, as he picks the right spot — often with a measured, curled finish with the outside of his boot.”
