Manchester United can always rely on their incredible youth academy. Even when the going gets tough for the first team, as it is at present for Erik ten Hag and his squad, there is always solace in the up-and-coming superstars.
Kobbie Mainoo is the latest to emerge from Carrington with a big future ahead, and having started all seven of United’s Premier League fixtures in 2024/25 after starring for England at Euro 2024, it’s clear that he’s a “world-class” prospect, as football creator Liam Canning has claimed.
The next prodigy is already champing at the bit, eyes on the senior set-up. Man United might have a sweeping breadth of teenage quality, but there’s one young star who’s shining above all others in 16-year-old Chido Obi-Martin.
Obi-Martin could be the next big thing
Arsenal thought they had one of the most promising young strikers in the world to look forward to several years down the line, but Manchester United captured the teenage sensation in one fell swoop this summer in what points toward future prosperity at the Theatre of Dreams.
German Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund both held a vested interest in the young baller this summer, but it was the Red Devils who ultimately prevailed and convinced Obi-Martin to cut his teeth within one of England’s foremost academies.
He’s certainly got the potential to reach lofty heights. Obi-Martin has scored a total of 23 goals and has added three assists across just 20 appearances in the U18 Premier League, also bagging 16 times over 27 matches at respective youth levels for Denmark.
There is just cause for United fans to get excited, with Obi-Martin looking to continue his rise over the next few seasons at Old Trafford and hopefully earn his senior debut within the next year or two.
Believe it or not, though, he might not be the biggest talent on the club’s books, for fledgling phenomenon JJ Gabriel is riding the crest of a wave and pointing toward a future at the summit of the European game.
JJ Gabriel might be Man United's best talent
Gabriel is only 14 but already taking loping strides toward stardom in the thick of Man United’s youth system. One of the highest-rated players in England for his age bracket, the attack-minded youngster has recently been promoted to training with the U18s, such is the regard that he is held in.
He’s a wonderkid, alright. Gabriel has plenty of time before he is (potentially) gracing the Old Trafford pitch as a first-teamer, but he’s definitely on the right track, with coaches blown away by his potential and has been dubbed the ‘kid Messi’ given his elegance and innate skill with the ball.
Ten Hag has his detractors, no arguing against that, but he has won silverware in both of his terms at the helm and also boasts an impressive track record with the youngsters, having promoted a series of teenagers to the senior squad
Mainoo is the creme-de-la-creme, but there are a host of other talents who have made their mark, Omari Forson featuring seven times in 2023/24 and claiming one assist and Willy Kambwala establishing himself as an exciting defensive talent before moving away in June to Villarreal in La Liga for a fee rising to £10m, turning a healthy profit indeed.
There’s a slick dribbling quality that’s been discernible from the get-go, with one eagle-eyed scout even claiming that Gabriel could shape into a forward of the same mould as former Premier League star Riyad Mahrez or Barcelona prodigy Lamine Yamal.
It’s talent that could even see Gabriel establish himself as Manchester United’s finest talent in a generation, perhaps even since Marcus Rashford. Perhaps, just maybe, he could even outstrip the Red Devils star.
Rashford’s astonishing rise was not in accord with the script. His well-documented emergence as a first-team player, aged only 18, saw him score a horde of goals but this came before he had even nailed himself down as a regular starting member of the U21s.
Moreover, former United youth coach Paul McGuiness said that the England international “had a little period, around 14 and 15, when he struggled”, largely due to growth, causing him to lose some of that natural-born coordination and technical flair.
Rashford might be on a downward spiral at present but he’s still one of the finest talents to emerge from the youth fold in many years, with 135 goals and 71 assists across 413 senior matches, notably boasting two FA Cup trophies, one Europa League triumph and a Carabao Cup win too.
Given that Gabriel is already being considered at a level that is fitting for the U18s, it’s plausible that sustained performances of promise over the next few years could set him in fantastic stead to become a top-class talent, perhaps even leapfrogging Obi-Martin and becoming the next big thing from Carrington.
We all know that Rashford has fallen from the wagon in recent years, but he will always carry the tag of a precocious young gem who burst onto the scene with a ferocity that wowed the footballing world.
In The Pipeline
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In Gabriel, though, a young footballer proving that he can more than hold his own against his senior peers, Man United might just find the homegrown hero to lead them toward glory in the years to come.
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