CHIDO OBI was among the goals again for Manchester United’s Under-21s but it might be a while before he gets a sniff with the first team.
Obi, 17, clinically prodded the United youngsters ahead in the 13th minute at Rochdale in the National League Cup as he continues to ply his trade with the second string.
Gibraltar international James Scanlon side-footed in Man Utd‘s second in added time for a 2-0 win.
The striker tallied his fifth goal in ten appearances in a season he might have expected to be spent with the senior squad.
Obi was promoted to the first team amid an injury crisis in mid-February, made his debut and appeared seven more times.
His goalscoring prowess was so renowned that Ruben Amorim was asked whether United had mistakenly omitted him from their Europa League squad.
But with a new £74million striker in the building in Carrington, no European football in United’s schedule and no cup ties until January, Obi is continuing his development with the academy.
Kobbie Mainoo and Joshua Zirkzee, two team-mates far more senior than Obi, have not even started for United this term.
Diego Leon, United’s rawest summer signing, was in the line-up with Obi at Rochdale. The 18-year-old Paraguayan is biding his time with reserve-team football.
Fellow left-back Tyrell Malacia, the surviving member of Amorim’s “bomb squad”, was even included in the United matchday squad against Brighton ahead of Leon.
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Fewer games have meant fewer injuries for United this term. Only Lisandro Martinez and Harry Maguire were absent for the weekend win against Brighton.
Barring a spate of injuries to the attack, Obi is destined to remain with his age group until the New Year.
There is a separate dressing room adjacent to the first team changing area in United’s new £50m building at Carrington, reserved for emerging talents like Obi.
Obi’s profile is on the first-team section of the United website but he does not have his own locker in the Carrington dressing room.
At Spotland, the United coach Travis Binnion had to instruct Obi to press more intensely and shook his head after he dribbled his way into trouble in the first half.
Binnion did it again when Obi scuffed a lay-off inside the first minute of the second half before offering the player encouragement and pointers on his positioning.
Impressive goalscoring record
Obi’s night ended with his 82nd-minute substitution at a ground where he came off the bench to assist the winner 11 months ago.
The Denmark Under-21 international’s goalscoring record at youth level with Arsenal and United is striking: 32 goals in 21 matches for Arsenal Under-18s and 19 in 24 for United’s junior teams.
His cameos under Amorim, and his full debut at Brentford, were additional evidence that his promotion was enforced, rather than earned.
Amorim bluntly described Obi as “naive” after the FA Cup fifth-round elimination by Fulham in March, which suggested Obi was not in the first team to stay.
He started in the FA Youth Cup semi-final defeat to Aston Villa, an indicator the United coaching staff recognised that was his true level.
As he approaches his 18th birthday next month, Obi is operating at his level with the U21s, getting a sniff of goal.
