Obi-Martins’ Absence from Forest

Manchester United’s head coach, Ruben Amorim, has explained why Chidozie Obi-Martins was absent from the squad that faced Nottingham Forest on Tuesday. The club opted to rest the youngster for that match to ensure his availability for the FA Youth Cup semi-finals.

The talented defender, who represents Denmark at the U-21 level and has Nigerian heritage, became part of Manchester United’s setup last summer. He made the switch after choosing to depart from Arsenal’s academy to pursue new opportunities at Old Trafford.

Obi-Martins marked his first senior appearance for the Red Devils on February 16, coming on as a late substitute in a narrow 1-0 Premier League loss to Tottenham Hotspur. Since then, the 17-year-old has made three additional first-team appearances, with his latest outing occurring against Leicester City before the international break.

Amorim confirmed that the club made a conscious decision to include Obi-Martins in their FA Youth Cup semi-final fixture against Aston Villa, prioritizing his involvement in the crucial tournament.

Speaking ahead of the match, Amorim told reporters, “He is going to play because we try to imagine the next game and if you look before he was on the bench and just played against Fulham, but just 10 minutes at the end of the game, and we have to manage the minutes, we have to give the minutes to the kid.”

“So I try to imagine the game, I imagine also it is really important for our young kids to feel the energy also of the game.”

“It is really important for us, we are trying to win that competition, trying to build something with the youth, and the good thing with the academy players is they have that feeling of winning.”

“So we are trying to manage everything and Chido needs to play also, so we are helping the team and the player.”