Model pro: Gabriel Obertan doesn't have Cristiano
Ronaldo's preening prettiness, but nor does he have his
histrionics
Through no fault of his own, other than the fact he cost
less than
Cristiano
Ronaldo’s left foot when he arrived
from Bordeaux in the summer,
Gabriel
Obertan has been forced to build
his
Manchester
United career from the back of the grid
at Old Trafford.
Virtually unknown and already injured prior to his arrival in
Manchester, the alarm bells marked ‘David Bellion’ were emitting a
piercing ring as Obertan posed alongside Michael Owen and Antonio
Valencia as the mystery man amongst United’s summer recruits.
Ronaldo had been sold for a world record £80m to Real Madrid and
here was United’s new winger, a guy who struggled to even make an
impact in Ligue 1.
Sir Alex Ferguson was bullish about the 20-year-old’s prospects,
though. At 18, according to Ferguson, Obertan was developing into
one of Europe’s brightest talents and he was capable of
rediscovering that potential.
But while Ferguson undoubtedly struck gold with the similarly
low-key signing of a £1.5m forward called Ole Gunnar Solskjaer more
than a decade earlier, the intervening years have been a tale of
woe when shopping in the bargain basement.
Bellion was a disaster, despite his billing as the new Thierry
Henry, while the more expensive, yet equally unheralded, Diego
Forlan, Kleberson and Eric Djemba-Djemba proved just as
disappointing.
Obertan had been written off as destined to go the same way
before he had even kicked a ball in a United shirt. Knee and spinal
injuries had marked him down as a crock. But having proved his
fitness in the reserves earlier this month, Ferguson chose to
unleash the young Frenchman on Barnsley for his United debut in the
Carling Cup on Tuesday.
True, the opposition could have been stronger, with Barnsley
lying just outside the Championship relegation zone. But Oakwell is
a hostile environment for any opposition winger, never mind a boy
from France unaccustomed to the kind of welcome reserved for
visiting widemen in this corner of South Yorkshire.
Just imagine Nani having the mental strength to blank out the
boos and belligerent challenges that Obertan managed without even
breaking stride. There were no arm-waving histrionics from this
winger.
Nani’s infuriating inconsistency has left a cloud over his
United future. Almost three years after arriving in a £17m move
from Sporting Lisbon, he remains an enigma. Obertan’s arrival has
darkened Nani’s cloud. The pace, bravery and purpose displayed by
Obertan, not to mention his unselfish distribution, suggested he
could dislodge Nani from the first-team picture in time for
Saturday’s clash with Blackburn.
That would be a more reliable gauge of the Frenchman’s ability,
but the signs from Oakwell were promising.
