It is just over a year since Chido Obi made his first-team debut for Manchester United against Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
Another teenage star, 15-year-old JJ Gabriel, is pushing for such a moment and will be hard to hold back once he is old enough.
Yet, for now, the duo are spearheading a United push for silverware in a season where the first team cannot realistically win a trophy. On Wednesday night, Obi and Gabriel helped Darren Fletcher’s under-18s beat Oxford United 4-1 to reach the last eight of the FA Youth Cup. Both Obi and Gabriel scored, with a header from defender Albert Mills and a fine goal from substitute Noah Ajayi on either side of their goals.
The inclusion of Obi for a second round of the FA Youth Cup in a row proves they have the ambition to go all the way. This competition is one which is important to United. No other club has won it more times — 11 — which adds to the folklore of their fabled academy.
Now 18, Obi’s development this season has been focused within the under-21 set-up. He occasionally trains with the first team but has made just one matchday squad this season. United have decided to improve his game away from the glare of the first team for now, despite 218 minutes under Ruben Amorim in the previous campaign.
Instead, he is back in the competition that he lit up last season. In that campaign, he scored seven goals in the three games against Coventry, Preston and Chelsea. By the time United reached the FA Youth Cup quarter-finals to play Arsenal, from whom they signed him as a 16-year-old wonderkid, Obi had been elevated to the first team owing to an injury crisis and an ambition by then head coach to put more of his focus on the Europa League over domestic duties.
Now all the focus is on his development, and playing back among the under-18s is part of that. It is also a very useful weapon to have a player with Premier League experience, even if only brief, playing No 9 in this competition. United came up short in the semi-finals last term against eventual winners Aston Villa, despite the return of Obi for that game. There might also be a sense of unfinished business for him in this competition, too.
His goal at the Kassam Stadium was one that showed his striker’s instinct. As Nathaniel-Junior Brown made his way skilfully down the left flank, Obi carefully edged away from his marker to make himself more available for the cut back and then provided a good finish low into the net. That strike, United’s third, came after he missed a couple of decent first-half chances. Even so, he looked at ease at this level.
Gabriel got the second just before the break. It was another exciting moment for him. In the third round of the competition, he had became the youngest player to score in the competition when he netted the only goal of the game against Peterborough United at Old Trafford.
That was a good finish, but this one was superb. Wearing the No 10 shirt and playing in that position as well, he took the ball around 25 yards from goal. Gabriel fired a low strike, which Oxford goalkeeper Harry Jones got a hand to but couldn’t keep out.
Carrick travelled to watch Wednesday’s game (James Fearn/Getty Images)
If anyone is trying to dampen the excitement around the young attacker, then this was not a performance to help. There’s something about how he moves with the ball which suggests there is real potential. On a rain-soaked night, he didn’t shy away from defensive duties. Despite struggling to fill out his red shirt, doesn’t shirk physical duels either. There were moments of magic too. There was a moment towards the end of the game when he took control of a cleared ball on the end of his toe before taking another touch to lift it over his opponent and then lay it off to a team-mate.
Interim head coach Michael Carrick had made the 167-mile trip south to watch the under-18s. He would undoubtedly have been impressed by Gabriel’s performance among others. Carrick only has a contract until the end of the season, but his presence suggests he is someone who cares about the long-term future of the club he is seemingly only temporarily in charge of.
Given Gabriel only turned 15 in October, he would be too young to play for United’s first team in the Premier League this season. But he has on more than one occasion trained with them and held his own with the two-footedness and quality of control he also displayed in Oxford. Whether Carrick would be the man tasked with the decision about potentially giving him his debut next term remains to be seen, but there is no rush, either.
As reported by The Athletic in December, Gabriel and his family are happy in the new academy setup led by Steve Torpey, and appreciate Fletcher’s coaching, which leans into his experience as a top-level player with United and Scotland’s national team.
Obi’s promotion last season was down to necessity rather than readiness. Maybe he is an example that you can step up too soon. But he also provides evidence that progression is often not linear, and stepping back can also help a player move forward. He and Gabriel are different players and characters at different stages of their development, given their ages, but both certainly have hopes of reaching the very top.
For now, their focus is delivering something the first team cannot this season — a trophy. Sunderland or Brighton await in the quarter-final at Old Trafford next month.