Chido Obi-Martin: Examining the ‘Wonderkid’ Striker’s Remarkable Rise

Chido Obi-Martin, a ‘wonderkid’ striker who joined Manchester United’s academy in October, is 16 years old, stands 6ft2in tall, and scored 32 goals in 18 games. These figures represent some of the statistics associated with the Danish-born player. Over the past 12 months, Obi-Martin has garnered significant attention on social media due to his exceptional goalscoring record during the 2023-24 season with Arsenal’s youth teams. Jeorge Bird, from the external blog Jeorge Bird’s Arsenal Youth, informed BBC Sport that “He is a really talented player.” Bird further noted, “I watched him quite a few times for the Arsenal academy teams last season and he scored 32 goals for the under-18s, which was a record at that level for the club.” Among his notable achievements, Obi-Martin scored 10 goals in a single match for the under-16s, contributing to a 14-3 victory against Liverpool. He also achieved a nine-game scoring streak in the Under-18 Premier League. Bird commented on these feats, stating, “It is outrageous to score that many goals at that level.” He elaborated, “You normally get one or two players every few years who score quite a few goals, but no-one normally scores that many.” Bird observed that Obi-Martin’s goal tally was not initially high at the season’s start, but he “just suddenly started to score and was playing with a lot of confidence.” He attributed this success partly to the playing style of the Arsenal team last season, which “really suited how he played, which helps, but he just got into the right positions all the time. He knew where to run and was playing with so much confidence.” Bird concluded that Arsenal’s subsequent difficulties this season without him “shows how well he did.” The soon-to-be 17-year-old, who is over 6ft tall, has made a considerable impact, and Bird believes his height has been advantageous. “Some people say he has a major advantage to those around him because he is so tall compared with other players at that level,” Bird stated. He added, “It will be interesting to see when he plays against senior players whether he can still be as prolific, but he has really good qualities.” Bird highlighted his skills: “He can control the ball really well, he is quite quick and can get into good spaces. He is going to be a really good player but it will interesting to see how he does at a higher level.”