- 8 hours ago
Chido Obi-Martin scores 14-minute HAT-TRICK in first Man Utd start
Robin Bairner
- 26 Oct 2024 06:21 CDT
- 3 min read
Manchester United’s patience to land Arsenal prodigy Chido Obi-Martin appears to have been fully justified, with the young attacker marking his first start for the club with a 14-minute hat-trick, including his first after 15 seconds.
The 16-year-old had a protracted transfer saga before being cleared by the Premier League to sign for Man Utd from their Premier League rivals and only made his debut for the U18 side last weekend as he came off the bench to play half an hour away at Sunderland.
Back at Carrington this Saturday, the Denmark teen was involved from the outset against Nottingham Forest U18 and took less than 15 seconds to open his account for the club. Benefitting from some awful defending down Forest’s left, he pounced on a shot back pass to round the goalkeeper and slot beyond a defender on the line.
Obi-Martin then added a second for the young Man Utd side in the fifth minute of the match to underline his talent. When a poor clearance dropped to him at the edge of the box, he fired into the net.
He rounded his hat-trick off within quarter of an hour with another finish from inside the box.
— Follow @AcademyScoop (@ascoopmedia) October 26, 2024
Chido has a second 🤯 #MUFC pic.twitter.com/GIUX7Srdxj
— Stretford Paddock (@StretfordPaddck) October 26, 2024
Arsenal’s loss is Man Utd’s gain
The striker’s departure from Arsenal was a controversial one, with Obi-Martin having scored 32 times for the Gunners U18 side last season. Indeed, he had previously caught the eye by scoring 10 in a single game against Liverpool at youth level.
FootballTransfers revealed in May that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta had presented Obi-Martin with a clear pathway to the first team, beginning with integration into the senior squad in the upcoming pre-season.
This was done because he was unable to sign a professional contract until he turns 17 in November.
Ultimately, after joining a new agency, he priced himself out of stay at Arsenal and instead moved to Man Utd, where he has made the best possible start.
