Chido Obi-Martin scored a hat-trick within 15 minutes of his debut for Manchester United’s under-18s against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
The 16-year-old former Arsenal forward needed just 14 seconds of his first game for his new club to open the scoring, profiting from a mistake in the Forest defence before rounding the goalkeeper to score.
He added his second four minutes later when a cross into the box wasn’t fully cleared before he intercepted and fired a controlled finish into the bottom corner.
The hat-trick was completed when he turned home first time from a James Scanlon cross after a quarter of an hour at Carrington. With United 5-0 to the good at half-time, Obi-Martin was then withdrawn.
Chido Obi-Martin bagged a hat-trick inside the first 15 minutes of his United debut! 🤌✨#MUFC || #MUAcademy
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 26, 2024
The Athletic first revealed United’s interest in Obi-Martin over the summer before he was officially added to the club’s group of first-year scholars earlier this month following the expiration of his schoolboy terms at Arsenal.
The striker spent two seasons in the north London side’s youth academy after joining from Danish club KB.
He was highly regarded at Arsenal but failed to agree terms on a new deal that would have been a scholarship before switching to a professional contract on his 17th birthday, which is next month.
A junior international for England and Denmark, he scored 10 goals in a 14-3 win for Arsenal’s under-16s over Liverpool in November.
‘Obi-Martin already making up for lost time’
Analysis from Manchester United correspondent Mark Critchley
It is not hard to see why Obi-Martin is so dominant at this level. Even though he is still just 16-years-old, he has all the physical attributes to overwhelm opposition defences at under-18s level.
Just look at United’s fifth goal against Forest, scored by the highly-rated Amir Ibragimov, but created through by Obi-Martin’s spin on the halfway line and surge down the right.
But it is his goal-scoring record that has caught the eye, and the controlled, expert finishing for each of his three on Saturday showed that he is not getting by on brute force alone.
After 29 in 17 league matches for Arsenal’s under-18s last season, it was no surprise to see him open his account for his new club so quickly.
Obi-Martin’s signing was a huge coup for United’s academy this summer, and though his start to life at Carrington was delayed until now due to Premier League red tape, he is already making up for lost time.
(Harriet Massey/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
