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Tony MoganPublished Jul 23, 2024, 6:17pm|Updated Jul 23, 2024, 6:18pm
Chido Obi-Martin has left Arsenal with Manchester United hopeful of signing the teenage superstar.
The 16-year-old striker was regarded as one of the brightest young talents in the Arsenal youth ranks, scoring 29 goals in his last 11 appearances for the club.
Clubs across Europe have shown interest in signing the striker with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund among those in the race for his signature, one currently being led by United who met with his representatives last week.
Arsenal offered Obi-Martin a new deal they believed to be ‘fair’ but his exit was effectively confirmed by the club this week.
The Gunners released details of their intake on first-year scholars ahead of the 2024-25 season on Tuesday. Martin-Obi was not among the names on that list.
The teenager trained with the first-team and featured for Arsenal’s Under-21 side in the Uefa Youth League last season.
Obi-Martin, who has represented both Denmark and England at youth level, visited United’s training base at Carrington last week.
He will be eligible to sign a professional contract with an English club on his 17th birthday in November.
United’s Under-18s collected three trophies last season after winning the Premier League North title, beating Chelsea in the Premier League National final having already scooped the Premier League Cup.
Ethan Wheatley, who scored in the national final against Chelsea, was handed his senior debut by Erik ten Hag in April, coming off the bench late on in the 4-2 win over Sheffield United.
20-year-old midfielder Toby Collyer was also among the youngsters to regularly make the match day squad during the back end of the season.
In a show of faith from ten Hag, Collyer wore the captain’s armband in the second-half of the pre-season friendly against Rosenberg and could be next in line to follow Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo from the youth ranks to the first-team.
‘You know me, I always want to make pathways for young players but they have to earn it,’ ten Hag said last week.
‘He’s now earned an opportunity. Today he was in the starting XI, that’s something, and we see how we can progress.
We saw last year with [Alejandro] Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo what can happen, so the pathway is also open for other players and Toby is there
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