Unleash Chido Obi! Teenage goal machine can inject life into injury-ravaged Man Utd's hopeless season and give Rasmus Hojlund the reality check he needs

There has been a huge online clamour to see more of Obi in the first team from United supporters due to his incredible feats at youth level. Those began when he was still at Arsenal, when he scored seven goals in a single game last season against Norwich City Under-18s. It was not the highest amount of goals he had scored in one game, however; that was his logic-defying 10-goal haul in an U16s game against Liverpool.

The Danish striker, who moved to England when he was 13, has continued to set pulses racing since leaving Arsenal - where he scored 32 goals in 18 U18s appearances last season - for United in the summer of 2024. He scored a hat-trick in the space of 15 minutes on his full debut for United's U18s against Nottingham Forest and soon became the all-time top scorer in the U18 Premier League.

He has also set United's FA Youth Cup campaign alight, bagging doubles against Coventry and Preston before banging in a treble in the 5-1 routing of Chelsea last week.

Obi had begun training with the first team the same week as his hat-trick against Chelsea, although Amorim was keen to emphasise that it was due to the squad's injury problems. There was little indication that the youngster would be making his debut against Tottenham when the coach said: "I don’t want to say names, we have to be careful on that. We have problems this week, we called some young players to be in our training. He is one of them."

Amorim had also been cautious when asked about the teenager before the recent FA Cup tie with Leicester City, simply responding: "He's doing his job. He's improving and playing in the youth teams. We will see at the end of the season."

The Portuguese evidently changed his mind when he turned to the towering striker against Tottenham, hoping that his quick reactions in the box would help United grab an equaliser. "If you see Chido playing, he is clever with every ball lost in the box, so I wanted one more player," Amorim explained. "But I felt the team was good during the game and I didn't need to change. Chido was that one player who could, with one long ball, make the difference."

Coming off the bench for less than four minutes away from home for a desperate team bereft of confidence was certainly a big ask for Obi, but there are plenty more opportunities for him to showcase his ability, especially given that United's league season is only going to peter out into insignificance.

The Red Devils have 13 Premier League games remaining and the only thing they realistically have to fight for is avoiding their lowest finish since they came 13th in the 1989-90 season. The defeat at Tottenham saw Amorim's side drop to 15th in the table, and although jokes still abound about relegation, they are surely safe from that unthinkable fate, sitting 12 points above 18th-placed Ipswich Town. The lowest they could feasibly finish is 16th, while getting into the top half seems a tall orde as they are eight points behind 10th-placed Brighton.

Essentially, United have nothing to lose from giving Obi more opportunities up front from now until the end of the season. But they have plenty to gain.

The opportunity that has opened up for Obi in the team feels reminiscent of the circumstances that led to Marcus Rashford's incredible breakthrough into the first team in 2016. Rashford had nothing like the hype surrounding Obi when he was included in the starting line-up for a Europa League last-32 second leg at home to Midtjylland in February 2016 after Wayne Rooney was injured and Anthony Martial hurt himself in the warm-up.

But with his two goals against the Danish side and a brace three days later against Arsenal in the Premier League, Rashford shot to fame and breathed new life into a flagging season, leading to United eventually winning the FA Cup. The team could really do with a fresh injection of optimism and youthful energy right now, and so could the fans, who love nothing more than seeing young academy players promoted into the first team.

There are also a few United players who could be helped by Obi playing more regularly, though none more so than Rasmus Hojlund. The Dane has had a terrible campaign, scoring just twice in the league despite being the team's only natural No.9, with Joshua Zirkzee being much better suited to helping with the build-up play than scoring goals. Hojlund has started eight of Amorim's 13 Premier League games, but his meagre contribution was summed up by the fact that Manchester City's new signing Omar Marmoush managed to score more times in the opening 33 minutes against Newcastle on Saturday than the Dane has all season.

Hojlund looks utterly shot of confidence, struggling to craft chances most of the time and failing to take them when they do fall his way. He had just nine touches in the first half against Tottenham and made only three passes, the lowest of any player on either side. His lack of concentration was also on display when he was caught offside from a goal-kick.

The Dane has potential. It is just one year since he became the youngest player in Premier League history to score in six consecutive games. But he is now on a goal drought spanning 14 games in all competitions, last netting in the league against Nottingham Forest on December 7. Indeed, he is barely threatening at all; he has the second-lowest expected goals (xG) of any striker in the Premier League, only behind Everton's Beto.

Playing his compatriot Obi would serve as a reality check for the £72m ($90m) man and further motivate him to make the improvements he needs to get back in the team and among the goals. Giving Obi a few Premier League starts would also give Hojlund some rest and respite to take with him into United's Europa League knockout matches in March.

The continental competition has suddenly become the only thing left worth fighting for, a chance to salvage this horrendous season by earning a ticket to the Champions League. The lack of quality in the Europa League on the whole was summed up by the fact that United finished third in the League Phase standings, and so even with their many problems and their new-found injury troubles, Amorim's side are still among the strongest sides in the competition.

And Europe is where Hojlund has always thrived. He scored five times in United's miserable Champions League campaign last season despite failing to net in the Premier League until December. The Europa League has also been a safe space for him this term, scoring five times, including match-winning braces against Bodo/Glimt and Viktoria Plzen.

Playing Obi in the Premier League would reduce the chances of Hojlund's domestic woes affecting his form in Europe, both physically and mentally. But Hojlund is not the only United player who needs a wake-up call. Alejandro Garnacho has looked incapable of hitting a barn door recently, failing to score since netting against Bodo/Glimt in November despite getting some wonderful shooting opportunities, such as the one that fell his way in the first half against Tottenham that he blazed over the crossbar.

Amad Diallo's season-ending injury has put more pressure on Garnacho to deliver, but the Argentine is struggling to dovetail with Hojlund, who was furious with him for not passing in the FA Cup tie against Leicester. Garnacho could benefit from playing alongside Obi given he followed a similar path from the Youth Cup to the first team three years ago.

Bruno Fernandes would benefit from some new energy ahead of him, too. Amad's injury and Rashford's departure on loan to Aston Villa mean that Fernandes is the only United player with more than three Premier League goals this season, and three of the captain's five strikes have come from the penalty spot. United, essentially, are crying out for goals - and who better to help them out than a young man who once scored 10 in a game.