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.
