United have not held discussions with Adam Lawrence over staying at the club beyond this season. In January, Lawrence returned to United to manage the Under-21s for the remainder of the campaign.
Travis Binnion was formerly United’s U21 manager, but he stepped up to the first team to help Darren Fletcher during his caretaker stint and was subsequently appointed to Michael Carrick’s backroom staff.
The reshuffle created a vacancy with the U21s. Lawrence was formerly United Under-18 manager but stepped away from the role last summer before spending four months managing Newcastle’s U21s.
The Manchester Evening News reported earlier in January that Lawrence’s return was being considered. Positive discussions took place, and the appointment was seen as mutually beneficial for both parties. United announced Lawrence would manage the U21s as interim for the remainder of the campaign.
Chido Obi has not made a senior appearance this season, but Man Utd staff retain belief in the promising young striker.
12:00, 02 Apr 2026
Obi has spent the season playing for the academy.(Image: 2025 Manchester United FC)
Manchester United fans couldn’t get enough of Chido Obi last season. The young striker was heralded as a future star and the buzz increased when he outshone Rasmus Hojlund in a handful of cameos.
Obi stole the show during the post-season tour in Hong Kong and started the summer’s opening pre-season game in Stockholm, but there were signs of potential and greenness in equal amounts.
By the end of the summer, United decided it was best for Obi to stay in the academy. “I think there was obviously a conscious decision at the start of the season from the club for Chido to concentrate his development in the academy environment,” Adam Lawrence said.
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“I do think that has been a good thing for him on the whole. Sometimes players are accelerated into the first team because they have good potential. Chido is a high-potential player, of course.
“But I think at the back end of last year, the first team were light in that area of the pitch. That then means that some of it is a little bit of necessity. But he has got real quality and potential as well.”
The Manchester Evening News spoke to Lawrence for his first external media interview in 2023, and were invited to speak to the academy coach again following his return to manage the Under-21s.
The conversation with Lawrence at Carrington was dominated by questions about Obi, who has made a single Premier League squad this season after making eight first-team appearances last term.
Obi felt like he was on the cusp of a permanent breakthrough and gained further encouragement when he started in Stockholm last summer. Ruben Amorim started him over Hojlund that afternoon, but he was brought back down to earth when the plan to give him more time to develop in the academy was communicated.
Just as the season got underway, there was a hint of frustration when Obi removed United from his Instagram bio, but it was soon restored, and he reacted positively to the disappointment on the pitch.
“Chido loves football. He definitely loves football,” said Lawrence. “Naturally with any player, when you’ve had that first-team exposure, and then you have that bit where you’re not around it as often, that’s going to have an impact on your short-term.
“It will impact the way you see things, or a bit of disappointment or frustration. But I think credit to Chido again because he has thought ‘this is the situation that I’m in. This is what I’m working towards to help take my game to the next level, and then I’m going to go after it’.”
Lawrence is uniquely positioned to provide insight because he has spent plenty of time coaching Obi. Lawrence was Under-18 manager when Obi arrived from Arsenal, and the pair have rekindled their relationship since Lawrence returned to the club in January.
“I think what Chido has benefited from of late is just routine, the rhythm and a settled programme,” he said. “Although he’s been going between the U18s and U21s, his training week roughly looks the same.
“He’s got the same people working with him, similar groups of players. I think he’s someone who’s benefited from the consistency and rhythm. Obviously, the concussion against Chelsea was a freak accident.
“It was a real setback for him because in the weeks previous to that, he looked really, really good. Chido at his best, I would say, in a couple of the U18s games, one was against City, and then he had another standout performance, and he looked a level above for the U21s against Leicester.”
The MEN reported that United staff were delighted with Obi’s performance in the U18 Manchester derby, believing his off-the-ball display was among his finest of the season.
“He pressed intensely and led the line, looking like a proper player,” Lawrence said. “That’s what we want him to look like consistently. Of late, he’s had more training opportunities with the first team. He has been over there two or three times.”
The feedback from Travis Binnion, who stepped up from his position as U21 manager to work in Michael Carrick’s backroom staff, on Obi’s performances in first-team training has been good.
“Trav has been positive on the whole, just in terms of his mentality, his energy within training sessions,” said Lawrence. “Naturally, first-team training will challenge him in different ways and give him those different challenges, which is obviously really good for him.”
United have laid out an individual development plan for Obi, as they do for every academy player, which Lawrence said is “clear in terms of what we’re going after for the individual parts of his game”.
Obi has benefited from developing away from the spotlight. “I think the good thing for him to understand is that [improvement] is from how he’s been training and performing at the academy level,” said Lawrence.
“He’s one of those players you try to have little and often conversations with. I like him because he’s really open and honest when he speaks to us, you know, that coach and player relationship.
“And he’s in a good place at the moment. I think he’s making good progress, and he’s training and playing with a smile on his face, which is massive.”
Lawrence continued: “I think the other message that we get across to the players is you don’t get this time back, this development period where you sit in between the academy and the first team.
“Once you get into the first team, you’re expected to perform every game. You’re put under a microscope in terms of how much publicity is around it. There is an expectancy around the U18-U21 age groups, but they’re still getting developmental work. It’s a more protected environment.
“We’re working really hard, not just with Chido, but with all the players in this period, to get them to understand you don’t get these years back. We want players to stay in the first team, not just go into the first team. Our job is to help them prepare to reach that level.”
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Obi has scored 15 goals in 24 appearances for the academy this season. His goalscoring rate has reduced (he scored 15 goals in 19 academy games last term), but his overall displays have improved.
That hasn’t stopped constant shouts of “Chido!” from the touchline during matches. “When a coach is tough on players, or they spend more time with them, it means that they really, really believe in the player,” said Lawrence.
“It’s a bit like with your child, there are times where you’re going to be really supportive, and you need to put your arm around them. There are times when you need to give them a nudge and let them stand on their own two feet.
“I think the brilliant thing that Chido has got is, you know, between Travis [Binnion], Darren Fletcher, Colin Little, all the coaches working with him, he’s got a group of people that really believe in his potential and are working really hard to help him fulfil that.
“And then, obviously, the player has got to turn up every day, or more often than not, hungry to develop, hungry to improve. We’re pushing Chido. We want him to go up levels and keep improving.”
Michael Carrick has cast his eye over Obi in first-team training. Carrick inherited a team not in Europe and already out of the cup competitions, which has limited opportunities for young players, but Obi will get a chance to show what he can do during pre-season again this summer.
“Personally, I think the club were right to do what they did in the window just gone. I think it was the right time for Chido to stay in the building to get some rhythm, some consistency,” said Lawrence.
“And then ultimately his level of progression and performance will dictate what happens in the summer. I think for Chido it’s maximising between now and the end of the season, all the opportunities that he’s going to get.
“Pre-season is when the first-team staff will look at players and then decide what is best for them. We’re trying to prepare every player for the first-team environment. If he made that much progress or he got to that stage, then obviously the first team would make that decision.
“A lot can happen between now and pre-season. It’s probably not an easy one to answer in black and white, but there’s definitely going to be opportunities there for him. It would just be where his game is at that specific time to dictate what happens next.”
Obi threatened a breakthrough last summer. This summer, he could genuinely achieve it.
–
Lawrence spoke to the MEN ahead of next week’s U21 game against Real Madrid in the Premier League International Cup quarter-final.
Manchester United icon Wayne Rooney was left feeling short-changed after ignoring his own son’s advice in an effort to catch Kai in action
Wayne Rooney broke his own rule in an attempt to catch son Kai in action(Image: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
Wayne Rooney suffered disappointment watching Manchester United’s FA Youth Cup quarter-final win over Sunderland. That’s despite the fact he broke a ‘golden rule’ set in place with son Kai in order to get a potential peek at him in action.
The Old Trafford icon has supposedly promised his 16-year-old offspring he wouldn’t attend any more of his matches. Not due to any underlying tension or animosity, however, but because Rooney Sr is routinely swamped by fans.
United’s under-18s progressed to the semi-finals of the Youth Cup on Wednesday after beating Sunderland 3-2. Chido Obi, Noah Ajayi and Junior Brown provided the goals in a comeback win over the Black Cats.
However, Rooney will nevertheless have been left disappointed to see son Kai remain an unused substitute for the quarter-final clash. He will have been over the moon to see the next wave of United talent advance as they look to claim the crown for the first time since 2022, however.
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Like any prospect, Kai would likely love to see his iconic dad attend as many matches as possible. However, Wayne’s wife, Coleen, previously revealed their son’s frustrations after seeing his dad’s attention stolen by others whenever he turned up for his matches.
“That’s the thing with kids I think, it’s hard to go on days out,” she said in 2024. “Kai told Wayne to stop coming to football games when he played grassroots tournaments and stuff because he used to get swarmed, and he couldn’t even watch the game.
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“How do you say to all of these kids, ‘Go away, I’m watching my son?’ Adults, it’s different, you could speak to them. So he (Kai) just said, ‘Oh, dad there’s no point you coming because you don’t even watch me play anyway.’ Which is sad, but it can’t be helped anyway.”
Despite not turning out for Darren Fletcher’s side in the quarters, Kai may get another shot in next month’s semi against Crystal Palace. United will take on the Eagles in the hopes of setting up an FA Youth Cup final against either Manchester City or Blackburn.
It’s not that Fletcher’s shy of promoting any especially young talents among his crops of future stars, either. That much is apparent after 15-year-old JJ Gabriel played a prominent starting role in the win over Sunderland.
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Rooney Jr. has made six total appearances for United’s under-18 this season. He has scored a single goal (in a 5-0 rout of Middlesbrough back in August) and recorded one assist in that span, while his sole Youth Cup appearance came late in a win over Derby two months ago.
Kai is still aiming to revive the kind of form that once saw him grab 56 goals and 28 assists in a single season for United’s under-12s. However, he has time on his side, to say the least, as he looks to follow his father and forge his own path to success at United.
Chido Obi scored four goals for Manchester United’s Under 21s on Monday, a matter of weeks after the club turned down loan offers for the teenage forward
Manchester United forward Chido Obi in action(Image: Getty Images)
Manchester United are poised to send Chido Obi out on loan next season after making the ‘conscious decision’ to reject offers for the 18-year-old sensation in January.
Obi signed for United in September 2024 after spending two years at Arsenal and he was fast-tracked into the club’s first-team set-up with Ruben Amorim’s side struggling in the final third.
Indeed, the Dane ended up making eight senior appearances last season, with one coming from the start.
But United decided last summer to move him back into the academy to continue his development.
As the Manchester Evening News reported earlier this month, that plan was set before the 2025/26 campaign to keep the youngster away from the spotlight and have him as a focal point for the Under 18s and Under 21s.
And, according to the Daily Mail, United stuck to that plan in the January transfer window after deciding to not entertain loan offers for Obi. They felt as though Obi would benefit more now from developing his game to go beyond physically bullying opponents in the U18s and U21s this season.
While Obi is due to be United’s main man in the U21s, at least, for the remainder of the season, the Mail add that a loan move is viewed as ‘more likely’ going into the 2026/27 campaign.
Obi has been in excellent form for United’s younger age groups this season and he continued his fine scoring spree by netting FOUR for the U21s in a 4-1 win at Leicester City on Monday.
As United’s first-team were in Premier League action against Everton, Obi was firing in the goals for the U21s against Leicester, with the forward powering the Reds to a fifth win in eight.
There is a feeling behind-the-scenes at United that having Obi as part of the U18s and U21s is going to benefit him in the long run, with Darren Fletcher having him as the starting No.9 for the club’s FA Youth Cup run. The Reds are into the quarter-final of that competition and face Sunderland or Brighton next month.
Speaking on Obi’s future back in September, United U21s coach Travis Binnion told Manchester Evening News: “It’s not easy for him because people look at him like he’s a big kid.
“The key thing there is he’s still very young, he’s still learning his game. Because he’s had exposure with the first-team, I think people expect performance levels that are really consistent and really high. You’ve got first-team players across the country who don’t do that.
“The expectation on him is high, but he has to deliver the basics, and what he did from minute 30 to 80 when he came off is he pressed, he ran and he occupied two centre halves to give other players space on the pitch to exploit, which is why we dominated the ball.
“I’m really pleased with him and we haven’t even scraped the top of the iceberg with him.
“He’s got loads to come. That will come from how he sees the game, keeps working hard and recognises he has stuff to develop because that’s always a challenge when you have that first-team exposure and then you go away and have to start working on things.”
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Manchester United have plenty of focus on one priority in the summer transfer window but they can not forget another in the meantime
Manchester United’s decision makers Jason Wilcox and Omar Berrada will be busy in the summer transfer window(Image: Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)
Manchester United’s summer transfer window is sure to be a busy one and already the cogs will be churning to ensure the Reds are stronger next season than they have been this. The priority for United has been obvious even before Casemiro decided he would be leaving Old Trafford at the end of the season.
The midfield is in desperate need of a revamp after United spent the past two summers adding to both their defence and attack. Currently, only Kobbie Mainoo appears to be in a position to retain a spot in the midfield after the summer transfer window closes.
He has revitalised his United career since Michael Carrick took interim charge and could even make it to the World Cup when that seemed an impossible dream just a few months ago. Unfortunately for the Reds, defensive midfield is where the problem lies as Manuel Ugarte is not in a position to make the step up and there is also a lack of options on the market.
That is why a lot of energy is going into the midfield this summer but, arguably just as important, is ensuring one of United’s top talents, who could follow the Mainoo pathway into the first team, makes the right next step. Chido Obi has had an eventful start to life in Manchester.
Last season, the centre-forward was drafted in as a necessity with the Reds left without striker options going into the final stages of the campaign. Having impressed in the academy since his arrival from Arsenal, the decision was made to give the Dane a go.
Sadly for Obi, he was entering a team who were lacking in confidence and, as such, showcasing his best form was always going to be difficult. MEN Sport understands the consensus at the end of that season was the push into the first-team came too soon.
That is why this season, Obi has been allowed the time to develop in the academy away from the spotlight of the first-team. On Saturday, the 18-year-old was on top form as he scored in the Reds’ 3-1 win over Manchester City in the U18 Premier League.
United are very pleased with the progress Obi is making in their academy with yesterday’s goal his ninth of the campaign. They were particularly happy with his work out of possession against City as the teenager starts to develop his all-round game.
Obi has been playing most of his football in the Premier League 2 which is the development league for U21s but the magnitude of the City clash saw him drop down. The striker turns 19 in November so he is getting towards an age where senior football is needed if he is to make it at United.
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That is why this summer is crucial for the youngster. United must decide whether Obi is ready to be a permanent member of the first-team squad or whether he would be better suited for a loan spell.
Right now, another season in the academy feels like it could be a waste. He has the attributes to compete in senior football even if his first introduction to it came too soon.
United know a good loan move can set a player up to be influential for the first-team the following season. Amad is the prime example of this.
He flourished at Sunderland in the Championship and came back to United ready to compete in the Premier League. Amad has not looked back and has not dropped into the academy since.
If Obi could get a loan move at a similarly high standard, the teenager could be perfectly set for the first-team. Loans to the Championship have been the making of many players at Old Trafford and are often a sign the club thinks highly of you for the future.
Obi is the next one who deserves to follow that pathway so picking the right team for him in the summer is just as important as fixing the midfield because, when strikers come at a premium, having the chance to promote a goalscorer from within is priceless. That is reason enough to ensure his next step is perfect.
