Despite all the excitement around the promotion of Chido Obi to the first team of Manchester United in recent weeks, it has never been lost with first team head coach Ruben Amorim or Academy Staff that he would eventually have to take a step back.
Not because something was wrong. Far from it. It is normal that he needs more minutes than the cameies that are now offered to him at senior level.
Since playing against Chelsea in this competition at the beginning of February, he played 78 minutes for the first team of United in the League and FA Cup. Here he should navigate more than 120 minutes as the most important man.
So, after missing the FA Youth Cup quarterfinals against Arsenal, his former club, here was the top scorer of the tournament that led the line again for United's Under-18S.
“We try to manage everything and Chido must also play, so we help the team and the player,” said Amorim Monday, which confirms the exclusive story of Mail Sport about his youth cup recording.
'We try to introduce the next game, we have to give the child for minutes. We try to win that competition to build something with the youth. '
It was clear that from the beginning that the end of his name sang, OBI wanted to put down an early marker. There was, you felt, a level of urgency to get a goal.
His first attempt, 12 minutes in, saw him the ball of Aston Villa captain Aidan Borland on the edge of the box of the box before he opened to curl one on his right foot.
Only the strike curled high and over the bar behind the back of Holte End van Jeers from the home fans.
Six minutes later he had the ball in the net seconds after referee Ross Martin had blown up for a dubious mistake on Villa goalkeeper Sam Proctor by Gabriele Biancheri. It was a finish up close, one that you would expect that OBI would convert, but again he was remained frustrated.
What was noticeable was how the defenders of the physical villa were at OBI, pulled his shirt when they knew they could do it away from the eyes of the referee and doubled him when he hit the ball in the half turn.
In the previous three games he played, OBI was able to be the bully against Coventry City and Preston North End, where he scored a brace in every game, as well as against Chelsea when he dropped a hat trick.
While he grew physically in this competition, often fell deeply to collect the ball and build up steam, it was a valuable exercise that might have been heavier than the study session was sitting on the couch with the first team in Nottingham Forest.
“He is currently in a good place,” Academy director Nick Cox told Mail Sport by OBI last week.
'There have been opportunities to train with the first team and a few chances of the bank. But let's be honest, there has been some injuries and some disturbance from the team.
'The trick is to continue to regularly assess where a player is. You saw Kobbie [Mainoo] Buiter between teams before he finally entered and Alejandro [Garnacho] Was a bit the same, so there are always turns. '
There were opportunities in the second half for OBI as there would always be. One widely dragged from the distant pole after he had switched on his right foot on the edge of the box and a header that crashed against the pole with 10 minutes to go.
There was still time for a booking before the 90 minutes was up after pushing and pushing the game with TJ Carroll after he was flattened in an air duel and a chance in the six-year box on the slide of Jaydan Kamason's cross in extra time.
Eventually he was excluded in this competition this season, a nod to the diligent and physical defense of Villa.
But this was still a night of learning and for that, Amorim, Cox and Co were right to record it. Nights like these are more valuable in the long term to a look at the city.
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