Chido Obi shows Man Utd what they're missing as 18-year-old responds to plan perfectly

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Manchester United youngster Chido Obi netted four times for the under-21s against Leicester City on Monday whilst United's first-team were competing at Everton . United accelerated Obi into the senior squad following his transfer from Arsenal last season, with Ruben Amorim's side experiencing difficulties in attack.

The Danish youth international made seven first-team outings, but the club opted to return him to the academy setup to further his progression . As reported by the Manchester Evening News earlier this month, that strategy was established before the 2025/26 season to shield the youngster from excessive attention.

Obi has featured in just one senior matchday squad this term, the 1-1 stalemate with Wolves at Old Trafford, but remained on the bench as an unused substitute in one of Amorim's closing matches in charge of the club. He's been a consistent presence in the EFL Trophy, National League Cup, FA Youth Cup, Premier League 2 and International under-21s Cup, with Obi understood to be gaining more experience in those academy contests.

There have also been fewer first-team matches this season owing to the absence of European football and premature cup eliminations, with Obi profiting from that arrangement. United enjoyed the benefits against the Foxes, with Obi breaking the deadlock in the 37th minute.

Their advantage would endure just a few minutes with Leicester drawing level through Lorenz Hutchinson. That didn't discourage the young Reds, with Obi responding almost instantly, netting his second goal in stoppage time at the conclusion of the first half.

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Matters deteriorated further for Leicester when Reiss Khela received a red card in the 75th minute. United capitalised and placed the outcome beyond any question with Obi completing his hat-trick in the 88th minute, finding the net another five minutes afterwards to conclude the scoring and claim his fourth.

The youngster posted on social media with the match ball, raising four fingers to represent each goal he'd scored. United have been eager to emphasise the significance of exercising patience with the young striker.

Speaking back in September, former under-21s head coach Travis Binnion - who has since stepped up to join Michael Carrick's coaching team - said "It's not easy for him because people look at him like he's a big kid. The key thing there is he's still very young, he's still learning his game.

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"Because he's had exposure with the first-team, I think people expect performance levels that are really consistent and really high. You've got first-team players across the country who don't do that.

"The expectation on him is high, but he has to deliver the basics, and what he did from minute 30 to 80 when he came off is he pressed, he ran and he occupied two centre halves to give other players space on the pitch to exploit, which is why we dominated the ball.

"I'm really pleased with him and we haven't even scraped the top of the iceberg with him. He's got loads to come. That will come from how he sees the game, keeps working hard and recognises he has stuff to develop because that's always a challenge when you have that first-team exposure and then you go away and have to start working on things."

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Binnion continued: "When you score as many goals as he has throughout his relatively short life, you can define yourself by goals. And we all know there's probably only two or three strikers in the world who get two goals in every three games.

"If you're used to scoring two goals in every game, then recognising what the role is, how you have to go around it takes a little bit of time. He is dying to be a footballer.

"He is hungry. And he's still learning the game, learning how to project himself and learning how to play within a team, the club's shape and system, so there's still lots for him to do. The key is he wants to play, he wants to do well and wants to train. He could train every day if he could."

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