Pain for Arsenal as Man Utd star backed to become ‘one of the best in the world’

Arsenal have been warned their former academy star Chido Obi-Martin can become ‘one of the best players in the world’ at Premier League rivals Manchester United.

Obi-Martin, 17, spent a couple of years in Arsenal’s academy before surprisingly deciding to leave last summer.

The teenage sensation had been in talks with Manchester United and joined the Red Devils in September.

Obi-Martin was a prolific goalscorer for Arsenal’s youth teams, featuring for the U21 side at the age of 15.

In one game for the U16 team, Obi-Martin scored ten goals in a 14-3 victory over Liverpool. He also netted seven goals in a 9-0 win over Norwich City.

Obi-Martin, who has been compared to long-term Premier League transfer target Victor Osimhen, hit the ground running at Old Trafford, scoring a hat-trick on his first start for the U18 side.

The teenager was expected to remain with the youth teams for the rest of the 2024-25 season but was called up to the senior side by Ruben Amorim earlier this year.

Since then he has made four first-team appearances, impressing Amorim and the likes of Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand with his cameos.

United defender Leny Yoro has also been impressed and believes his teammate can develop into ‘one of the best strikers in the world’ in the coming years.

‘Chido is talented,’ Yoro, who has also been widely tipped to become a global star at Old Trafford, told ViaPlay.

‘He can become one of the world’s best strikers in my opinion, if he continues his development.

‘He scores a lot of goals and is a good boy, so I also hope that he will become one of the best.’

Assessing Obi-Martin’s performances for the first team, Yoro added: ‘He has had his chance in a few games.

‘Of course I hope that he will soon open his goal account in the first team. That will help the team.’

Obi-Martin missed Manchester United’s 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night after playing for the U18 side in their FA Youth Cup semi-final against Aston Villa.

Ex-United winger Anthony Elanga scored the only goal of the game as Forest inflicted a 13th defeat of the season on the Red Devils, who remain 13th in the Premier League.

‘It is clear we should have taken something, but we have to focus on the goal we conceded,’ Amorim said afterwards.

‘Nottingham are really good on the transition and it was a goal from nothing.

‘Suffering the first goal in this way puts the opponent in the position they want to be in, defending with a lot of men and making the transitions.

‘During the game we lacked a bit of quality in the final third which is important when you are trying to win games. We deserved more.’

There was also disappointment for the U18 team and Obi-Martin as they were beaten on penalties by Aston Villa to exit the FA Youth Cup.

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

MORE: Anthony Elanga sends message to Man Utd after downing former club

MORE: Andrea Berta told the ‘statement signing’ he must make for Arsenal in his first transfer window

MORE: Liverpool vs Everton: Confirmed team news, predicted lineup and injuries