Manchester United drop clear Chido Obi hint with Arsenal decision | OneFootball

Prolific teenage striker misses out on a reunion with his former club in the FA Youth Cup quarter-finals

Chido Obi has been omitted from the Manchester United Under-18 squad for Friday night’s FA Youth Cup quarter-final with Arsenal as he continues his involvement with the senior side.

The prolific teenage striker’s swift reunion with the club he left for Old Trafford last year had initially looked set to provide the main headline for a high-profile last-eight game at the Emirates Stadium, with Obi having kept up his incredible scoring run by hitting a hat-trick in the 5-1 victory over Chelsea in the last round at Leigh Sports Village earlier this month.

However, since that game the 17-year-old has been called up to the first-team squad after a selection crisis hit manager Ruben Amorim ahead of the 1-0 Premier League defeat against Tottenham on February 16, forming part of a bench at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium that included eight academy players without a single senior appearance between them.

The Danish U18 international was on the bench again for Wednesday night’s 3-2 home win over Ipswich, but remained an unused sub on that occasion.

Obi’s promotion to first-team duties cast huge doubt on his participation against former club Arsenal in the FA Youth Cup quarter-finals, with the striker now confirmed to be missing the match at the Emirates.

That would appear to suggest that the player will instead be in the senior squad again on Sunday at Old Trafford as Amorim’s side meet Premier League rivals Fulham for a place in the FA Cup quarters.

Given the ongoing struggles of the likes of Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee, who have scored just five league goals between them this season, many fans feel it won’t be long at all now until academy sensation Obi is handed his first senior start.