Arsenal’s 10-goal teen sensation is smashing barriers & firing his way into Mikel Arteta’s vision
After years of being a world-renowned banter club, Arsenal have got themselves together and with that has come a flurry of scarily good youth talent.
Almost toppling Manchester City in their quest for a treble with a mightily young side, Mikel Arteta’s first team have since shown some steel, grown up a bit and been roughed up enough to go to war again, this time on several fronts.
And while everybody is obsessing over that with opinions good and bad, the Gunners are merely rubbing their hands, because they know they’ve got another trick up their sleeve.
At the back end of last year, news surfaced of a teenager smashing 10 goals past Liverpool’s under-16s in one game of football. No, your eyes do not deceive you. Ten goals.
We’re delighted to inform you that in the time since young Chido Obi-Martin pulled off such an outrageous feat, absolutely nothing has happened at surface level.
His name hasn’t disrupted any headlines, he’s not been thrust into the cauldron and – despite us resenting him for how old he makes us feel – the 2007-born starlet has simply gone about business as usual.
Sounds boring, right? That’s been the plan all along. It’s hideously boring – until this 16-year-old Denmark-born freak suddenly spawns into the under-18 setup looking like a cyborg and slaps us all across the face with Tiktok memes and whatever else it is that this generation’s kids obsess over.
Gone are the days of Soccer AM, but if it were still around, we’re pretty sure they’d have already picked up Obi-Martin for some sort of ridiculousness at youth level. In the time since scoring those 10 goals against Liverpool, Arsenal coaches have done a stellar job of blocking out the noise and slowly integrating him into the under-18 side.
Without anyone realising, they’ve in-turn set up a pathway that could see Obi-Martin – who has already caught the eye of Arteta and trained with the first-team – break into the senior side by the end of 2024.
So, what’s changed? Not much. He’s still younger than the first iPhone and still not old enough to buy Call of Duty, but he’s now bringing his talent to an older, tougher and wiser age group, leading the line for Jack Wilshere’s young Gunners.
His 2023 highlight reel says it all, as does his recent transition into regular minutes at under-18 level.
Known by many as ‘Chido Obi’ – which is one of the coolest names in football and thus makes him a bonafide star – the teenager has already managed four goals and two assists in just nine games at under-18 level.
Taking to the increased difficulty like a duck to water, he’s already blurring the lines between age groups and gets a kick out of punching above his weight – oh, and embarrassing big-name opposition.
Slotting seamlessly into the role at the top of the pitch is no mean feat, but Obi has done so fantastically and already seems to have found his calling as a striker with a technical floor and, crucially, an absolutely thunderous shot on both sides.
His progression is so profound that it actually makes you forget about his 10-goal haul, which is a huge compliment. Instead of being pigeon-holed, Obi has already forced his way out and is looking beyond that one moment.
The next step is maturing physically and continuing to smash the glass ceiling above him, but don’t get it twisted – this was all part of the plan. One look at the way Arteta has slowly dipped Ethan Nwaneri in and out of the first-team is testament to that.
Arteta’s Gunners are flying in Europe and domestic competition, but his latest trick is still firmly up his sleeve and blossoming nicely, ready to shock us all imminently.
By Mitch Wilks
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