Chido Obi training with Manchester United first team before Tottenham clash | OneFootball

Teenage striker will hope for a chance to impress after continuing his incredible goalscoring form in the FA Youth Cup

Chido Obi has trained with the Manchester United first team this week as he pushes for a senior debut after another sparkling run of goalscoring form.

The 17-year-old striker netted a hat-trick in Wednesday night’s 5-1 demolition of Chelsea in the FA Youth Cup that sealed a reunion with former club Arsenal in the quarter-finals next month, making headlines by copying the goal celebration of Marcus Rashford.

Obi has continued to go from strength to strength since swapping the Emirates Stadium for Old Trafford back in October in what was widely seen as a significant transfer coup for United, who in January completed a similar deal to sign Ayden Heaven from Arsenal, continuing his impressive run at youth level with 12 goals in his first nine appearances.

The Danish youth international - no longer referred to as Chido Obi-Martin - frequently made headlines for his prolific form in front of goal in Arsenal’s academy, including once scoring 10 times in one game against Liverpool and seven in a win over Norwich.

Obi has notched a record 41 goals in the U18 ranks, leading for calls for a swift promotion to first-team level at United and many Arsenal fans lamenting his exit amid a worsening injury crisis that has created a real attacking shortage with Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus both lost for the season and the likes of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli also currently sidelined.

Ruben Amorim continues to face questions over a potential senior debut for the teenager, with United still stuck in 13th place in the Premier League table amid continually inconsistent form.

The Red Devils have scored just 28 goals in their 24 top-flight matches so far this term - only Everton and the bottom three clubs Leicester, Southampton and Ipswich have netted less. Of those goals, only a combined five have come from out-of-form forwards Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund, with Rashford having got four before his first-team exile under Amorim and subsequent loan move to Aston Villa last month.

Some fans have been left wondering if that senior involvement could now be looming for Obi, who has confirmed to have been training with the first team in recent days as Amorim admitted there could be “one or two issues” in his squad for Sunday’s trip to Tottenham and that one unnamed player was struggling with illness.

“I don’t want to say names,” Amorim said of the academy hopefuls taking part at Carrington this week. “We have to be careful on that. We have problems this week, we called some young players to be in our training. We have some data evaluation. He [Obi] is one of them.”

Lisandro Martinez will miss the rest of the season for United after undergoing surgery on a torn anterior cruciate ligament in London this week, while Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Altay Bayindir, Jonny Evans and Tom Heaton have also been sidelined of late.