The 16-year-old has announced his departure after four years at the North London club, and he has reportedly agreed to a move to Manchester United.
Arsenal offered Obi-Martin new and improved schoolboy terms to convince him to stay, and there was an agreement in place over the contract, but the teenage sensation wanted to move on because he had doubts over the club’s project and over his potential pathway into the first-team.
He reckoned his career development is best served somewhere else, and will now weigh up his options ahead of making a crucial decision.
Obi-Martin ended 2023-24 with 32 goals and three assists in 20 under-18 Premier League appearances for the Gunners, bagging five hat-tricks in the final nine games of the campaign and scoring seven against Norwich City in a nine-goal demolition.
He also scored 10 times for their under-16s in a 14-3 win over their Liverpool counterparts last November, and the Red Devils have pipped fierce competition to his services from the look of things.
Arsenal have struggled to give plenty of their talented youngsters the chance to prove themselves in the first-team, with the duo of Reuell Walters and Amario Cozier-Duberry leaving after failing to make their official debuts.
They trained regularly with the senior team and were named in the matchday squad on several occasions, but manager Mikel Arteta was not convinced they had what it took to play for him.
Obi-Martin and his representatives would not have been convinced after seeing what happened to Walters and Cozier-Duberry, and Arsenal could end up regretting losing such a talented striker going forward.
