International coach's Chido Obi demand for Manchester United gets undercut by his own decision

Manchester United prospect Chido Obi is one of the club’s top prospects, but perhaps a little patience is required.

One year ago Manchester United signed Chido Obi from Arsenal, and the highly rated youth prospect had a scorching start in the academy.

Obi scored a hat-trick on his first under-18s start, and within months he was featuring for Manchester United’s first team under Ruben Amorim.

After scoring on the post-season tour, hopes were high for 2025/26, and he even started the first pre-season game, before fading from view.

Denmark under-21 boss wants game time for Chido Obi

Chido Obi has not yet made the squad for any of Manchester United’s Premier League matches this season.

This prompted an outburst from Denmark under-21 boss Lars Knudsen, who told Bold at the end of August that he was hoping Chido Obi left Manchester United on loan.

Knudsen said: “It’s just a hope we have for the national teams, because we know that playing time is crucial.

“This is both for performance, but also for these young people in terms of developing themselves.

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“Of course, we hope that he will get somewhere where he can play.”

Knudsen called Chido Obi into his under-21 squad, and played him for 45 minutes as a half-time substitute in their 1-0 loss to Norway.

And then most recently in a 6-2 victory over Wales, he left Chido Obi on the bench for 90 minutes.

Knudsen’s own decision undercut his own demand for Obi to get more gametime at club level.

Chido Obi is progressing just fine

Chido Obi has made eight first team appearances for Manchester United, across a total of 212 minutes.

With Rasmus Hojlund sent out on loan to Napoli, Chido Obi has a chance to cultivate a solid back-up role behind Benjamin Sesko later this season.

A lack of European football certainly hurts his chances, but it is important to remember that Obi is only 17-years-old and well ahead of schedule with first team football already under his belt.

This season Obi has had a strong start at academy level, with two goals in three games for the under-21s already.

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