According to @USAprospects, U15 Abuchi Obinwa so impressed PSG coaches that they started him in PSG U17's friendly against the France U17 NT. Obinwa currently plays for Chicago Magic, which is a strategic partner of PSG. Magic GK Andrew Putna also is training with PSG.
Apparently at some point he'll train w/ Real Madrid's youth squads. http://isupportsports.com/projects/help-abuchi-obinwa-live-his-dream1/396
He appears to be on the verge of signing with Hannover 96. I found these two tweets on twitter, but I don't speak German. I put them into google translate, but it was still hard to understand. Could someone who reads German translate them? RedRevolution96 @RedRevolution13 41m Laut der NP steht Hannover 96 kurz vor der Verpflichtung vom US-Talent Abuchi Obinwa (17). RedRevolution96 @RedRevolution13 31m Jens Rehhagel über Abuchi Obinwa: "Er hat einen guten Eindruck gemacht." Rehhagel emphahl Dufner laut NP die Verpflichtung von Obinwa. @F96 posted this in the Juan Agudelo thread about Obinwa
Just says that Obinwa made a good impression on them and that Hanover is close to signing him. An interesting tidbit about him from the posted article, though, is that Nigeria invited him to the U-18 WC and he wanted to go, but participate because FIFA's age test indicated he was older than 17. I think I remember reading that Nigeria actually had a huge controversy recently about one of their youth teams fielding older players at one of these youth tournaments? Also says that Hannover really want to sign him and will wait until he's 18.
Here's some info from the YNT forum, which includes some of the Nigeria stuff: http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/yanks-on-foreign-ynts.896049/page-22#post-29762758
Obinwa refuses to rule out Nigeria despite MRI scan failure http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/24282432
How accurate are those MRI Scans for age determination? Did a quick google search and apparently its 99% accurate up until 17. After that they become a bit inconclusive?
Yeah, I don't get it. Was he born in the US? Maybe we have another "birther" controversy ala Obama? Anyhow, I'm excited he's in the US youth setup - best of luck to him at Hannover if the reports of a deal are accurate.
J.R. Eskilson @JREskilson · 7h U18 MNT midfielder Abuchi Obinwa to join Hannover, according to German media. http://www.neuepresse.de/Hannover-96/Aktuell/Dufner-entdeckt-US-Juwel-fuer-Hannover-96… Man, the list of U18 prospects that have signed in Europe/Mexico/MLS in the past 6 months is looking impressive.
For those that want a background on this player: http://owhentheyanks.com/2013/08/15/top-prospect-97-abuchi-obinwa/
According to the local papers he will start training with the U19 (German runner-up 2014) tomorrow and will live here with a German family at first.
Plus or minus 6 months, as far as I understand it. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2465442/figure/fig2/
Sounds like he was flirting with the idea of playing for the Nigerian YNT's until they found out he mightn't be his stated age?
Seems that he was born in the US and it's well documented, so it's unlikely he isn't his stated age. It sounds like he is one of the "false positives" that the age test generates, meaning he can't really help Nigeria until he is ready for non-YNT play.
Not sure how you're reading that chart as plus or minus six months. Some of their 18-year-olds were effectively indistinguishable from 14-year-olds. Also, their U17 World Cup players don't resemble their Normative Population at all, so either fraud is rampant - which seems unlikely in most countries - or the test doesn't apply very well to high-end youth athletes.
USAprospects @USAprospects · 14h '97 Abuchi Obinwa is now playing with Hannover 96 U23s. Obinwa trains regularly with the squad's first team #usynt