Chido Obi-Martin is on the verge of joining Manchester United.
The 16-year-old, who was nowhere near ready for the Arsenal first team opted to take a step down to Manchester United in the quest of fast tracking his journey to first team football, even if it means playing at a lower level.
As we blogged last week, Arsenal are better off without the youngster, whom is clearly being used by his handlers to make a quick buck at the detriment of his career.
The deal is subject to the Premier League 5 step investigation – or five-step review process as it is also known).
This process is nothing unique. It is an investigatory review that every transfer involving an academy player between two Category One academies goes through.
Before any academy player can be registered, the transfer must go through the review, which takes around 25 days to be completed. But what is the five-step review process?
Following Southampton receiving a suspended sentence back in 2022 for contacting academy players without permission, The Athletic outlined what is involved in the process:
Step 1: The new club submits a signed registration form to the Premier League.
Step 2: The Premier League appoints an independent third party (usually a law firm) to conduct “exit interviews” with the player, parents and both clubs. However, further interviews or requests for information are also permitted.
Step 3: The two clubs involved in the agreement, including the player’s parents, are required to sign a declaration that no financial or value-in-kind inducements have been utilised as a part of the move (including contra deals).
Step 4: Through the independent third party, a report is then produced for the Premier League’s board, coming up with a recommendation regarding the club’s application to register the player.
Step 5: The Premier League’s board can either approve or reject the registration application. They also have the autonomy to take disciplinary against the club if they were found to breach their youth development rules.
So what does this all mean?
Well firstly, absolutely nothing if the review finds Manchester United did nothing wrong in their recruitment of Chido Obi Martin.
If it is found that they have breached the rules, the player will still sign for Man U but they could face sanctions.
The Athletic article continues: Everton for example, were handed a two-year academy ban in November 2018 and a fine of £500,000 ($608,000) for offering incentives to a player and his family.
In 2017, Manchester City were fined £300,000 ($365,000) and also banned from signing academy players for two years after the Premier League found evidence of contact between City staff and family members. Incidentally, in that same month, Liverpool were deemed to have breached similar rules when offering inducements to a Stoke City player and subsequently banned from recruiting in the academy for 12 months. They were also fined £100,000 ($122,000).
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 
Didn’t Arsenal themselves think that there was something hinky about this deal?
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Chido Obi-Martin, you’re born designated for Manchester United
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