Chido Obi
Danish footballer (born 2007)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chidozie Martin Obi (born 29 November 2007), commonly known as Chido Obi,[4] is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Eredivisie club Willem II, on loan from Premier League club Manchester United. He has played youth international football for Denmark up to under-21 level.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Chidozie Martin Obi[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 29 November 2007[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Glostrup, Denmark[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[3] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Forward | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Willem II (on loan from Manchester United) | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| –2020 | Copenhagen | ||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2024 | Arsenal | ||||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Manchester United | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | Manchester United | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2026– | → Willem II (loan) | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Denmark U16 | 8 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2023 | England U16 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | Denmark U17 | 19 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024 | Denmark U18 | 4 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | Denmark U20 | 4 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | Denmark U21 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 20:44, 15 September 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:00, 4 September 2025 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Obi joined Manchester United's youth system in 2024, from Arsenal. He made his first-team debut for United in a Premier League game in February 2025. In May 2025, he became the youngest player to start a Premier League game for Manchester United, at the age of 17 years and 156 days.
Early life
Obi was born in Glostrup, a Copenhagen suburb, to Nigerian parents.[5]
Club career
Arsenal
Obi started his career in Denmark with Copenhagen, often playing up one or two age groups with the 05's and 06's.[clarification needed] He eventually moved to England when he was 13 because of his mother's new employment, going on to join the academy of Arsenal.[6][7][8] He progressed through the club's youth ranks, establishing himself as a prolific goal-scorer, and was promoted to the under-18 side at the age of fifteen. In his first start for the under-18 side, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 win against Southampton on 23 September 2023, earning comparisons to Nigerian international striker Victor Osimhen in Danish media.[9]
The following month Obi made his first appearance for the club's under-21 side, while still fifteen.[10] He continued his meteoric rise at Arsenal in early November 2023, being called up by first-team manager Mikel Arteta to join the senior side for training.[11] Obi made international headlines on 18 November 2023, scoring ten goals as Arsenal beat Liverpool 14–3 at under-16 level.[12][13][14] On 27 April 2024, Obi made headlines once again, scoring seven goals for Arsenal in their 9–0 win against Norwich City, taking his tally up to 24 goals in his previous seven games for Arsenal's under-18s.[15] On 29 July 2024, Obi announced his departure from Arsenal on his Instagram account.[16]
Manchester United
Linked with a move to fellow Premier League club Manchester United in the summer of 2024, the deal was concluded at the end of September.[17][18] The following month, Obi was named by English newspaper The Guardian as one of the best players born in 2007 worldwide.[19] On his first start, Obi scored a hat-trick in a 6–0 win for the under-18 team over Nottingham Forest.[20]
Obi was named in a senior squad for the first time on 16 February 2025, making his senior debut as a 90th-minute substitute for Casemiro in a 1–0 league defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.[21][22] Obi was named in the starting line-up for United's game against Brentford on 4 May, the first senior start of his career; at the age of 17 years, 156 days, he became the youngest player to start a Premier League game for United, surpassing Mason Greenwood's previous record of 17 years, 223 days.[23]
On 30 May 2025, Obi scored his first two senior goals for United in a 3–1 friendly win against Hong Kong.[24]
Willem II
Obi joined Dutch Eredivisie club Willem II on a season-long loan on 2 September 2026.[25]
International career
Eligible to represent Denmark, Nigeria or England at international level,[26] Obi made five appearances in late 2022 for Denmark's under-16 team, before switching allegiance to England.[27] He represented England twice at under-16 level in February 2023, against Cyprus and Scotland.[28] However, in April of the same year he returned to the Danish under-16 team, scoring twice in three appearances.[7] His prolific goal-scoring form earned him a call-up to the Denmark under-17 team, and he started Denmark's 2024 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualification campaign with two goals in his first three games.[29]
Obi made his debut for the Denmark under-20 team during the 2025 Maurice Revello Tournament. He would score a 96th-minute goal vs Congo to secure a 2–0 win for his country, in their second game of the group stage. He would score his second goal of the tournament in a 3–0 win over Japan before eventually getting knocked out to Saudi Arabia in the semi-finals.
Career statistics
- As of match played 15 September 2026
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Manchester United | 2024–25[30] | Premier League | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |
| 2025–26[31] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2026–27[32] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |||
| Manchester United U21 | 2025–26[31] | — | — | — | — | 3[b] | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Willem II (loan) | 2026–27[33] | Eredivisie | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 1 | ||
- Appearances in EFL Trophy
Honours
Individual
- UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2024[34]