Gabriel Obertan has arrived at Carrington to complete his medical with Manchester United. It is believed that a four-year-deal, worth £3million to his current club Bordeaux, will be signed today. Former United defender, Laurent Blanc, is surprised that the 20-year-old has attracted United’s attention though.
“I was surprised too, but it is an unexpected chance for him to play with one of the best clubs in the world,” Blanc said. “Manchester United have been tracking him for a long time. They certainly hope to advance him, something that Bordeaux and Lorient have failed to do. He has the potential, but he must overcome psychological and mental challenges so he can express his true value.”
Bordeaux president Jean-Louis Triaud had already revealed that the winger would join our club earlier this week. “There is a very strong likelihood that the deal will go ahead,” Triaud said. “Manchester United want to sign him and, for our part, we would be delighted to see Gabriel playing for such a prestigious club. We will make the official announcement when the time is right.”
Man Utd News 24/7
didnt see this coming !
looks a good prospect, keep em coming Fergie!
i taught he did it yesterday
remember that program that used to be on sky early edition and the fella used to get tomorrows newspapers today
i think that happened to me today when i picked up the sun
keeping in view…what blanc is saying…..i am nt sure how this will turn out…as he mentions…if sir alex is gonna do what he has done through out the years…that is …help him to face phsycological and mental challenges…then..he may turn out to be..find!….but im not sure..
@GHTT…that is early edition…mate!..if im nt wrong….
hope you get more of that….and let us know..if any big signings coming our way!….which looks less probable day by day…
could be a ploy to try and land another french player. It is my firm belief that we signed Kleberson to make Ronaldinho feel a bit more comfortable around the place!
i wont be one this im taking the racing section to the bookies:) i cant comment cause
i know n o t h i n g about this player
coogie
what about evra
Why would we sign Obertan to get another french player, think your on about Ribery? When we already have Ribery’s close friend at United, Patrice Evra. If he doesn’t want to come to Manchester then so be it, we move on and get another transfer target who will not command a daft fee like Bayern are asking for. I say save the Ronaldo money for next year when Giggs, Scholes and Van der Sar may all hang up their boots.
he is decent enough,
he has pace,dribbling skills, crosses well…
but a lot depends on how he will develop against premier league opponents…
he’s a united player cause he scores in the 94th min
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahRI_U1qJak
good goal but can anyone tell me anything about him left winger?right winger? left foot? right foot? both?
GHTT
French players of his own age group and who he is familiar with etc! i.e. Ronaldinho/Kleberson, Tosic/Llajeic
Looks pretty decent, suprising he’s only cost us £3m though. Worth a punt just to see if Fergie can work his magic, on a few video’s i’ve seen looks like he has quite a bit of potential.
I can’t help but feel a little disappointed so far about our signings… Even though I know for £3 million its a tiny signing that we shouldn’t expect much out of… Owen was free but its still Owen and I would have been pleased with Valencia had we followed up with a big signing.
Just can’t please some people haha!
Never heard of him nor seen him play.
Hope he has a good work rate and can deliver the ball into the box. Good luck son.
video we found on youtube that was taken 2 years ago..it means his progress is not working well…being loaned out to another club last season coz of lack of 1st team chance..n he cant even compete wiv david bellion in bordeaux 1st team…hope hes not another bellion..
How many wingers is SAF collecting? we need a midfield enforcer like Veloso not another half baked winger, i would have been impressed with Sanchez or Silva but this kid is another bargain basement long term work in progress, unless we get a major player to gee up our team after losing Ronaldo/Tevez i can’t see us winning any major trophies.
It seems to me that SAF an the coaching staff believe they can improve aspects of players that other clubs may overlook. It is widely known that United have among the best facilities in the world and it seems that we are starting to utilize these more frequently.
For example Owen (injury prone) Tosic (too small) and now Obertan. We have already seen how the backroom staff improved Ronaldo & more recently Evans, Macheda and Welbeck.
he is a striker…according to some profiles i found….
but in the videos…it looked like he was a winger…
im not sure though!
Sabien24
silva is a winger that can play in midfield
like hargreeves playing left back
or john oshea being the wonder that is john oshea
Definatley a winger. Now we have Nani, Valencia, Tosic & Obertan and then in January, Ljajic.
3mil….and it doesnt look like…SAF is not going to play him in first team….
however good he is we all know that sanchez is better…. he has a much bigger potential, greater speed and a good eye for goal but saying that obertan is not that bad…
GHTT….
Hargo at right back…
This must be a straight swap for Martins. I am hoping Fergie is saving our best signing for last. If not just bring Ljajic in now rather than Jan and give him the number 7. Why can’t we afford an Aguero or Pato when we have just recieved 80 million of Ronaldo? Buying one of those with the the others would make sense.
i’m not getting my hopes up with this one.
it might be good news for rooney though.
looks like saf is tryin to get wide players in, maybe to get rooney back playin centrally where we all know he’ll do most damage.
utd7….we dont need any more forwards….and if we do so..that will not give us the oppurtunity to give more games to macheda and welbeck…i guess that will clear your Qn…as aguero and pato are forwards…its not the question of money…rather its about what we need!
@ UTD7
Unfortunatley can’t bring in Ljajic till Jan as Serbian players are unable to sign for teams abroad until they are 18.
people should quit hoping for a huge signing like pato, aguero or ribery. fergie will never pay £40m+ for someone when he knows he can sign a player for a quarter of that fee, who has vast depths of potential.
although this signing worries me. he sounds like a bit of a ryan babel. loads of pace and skill but accompanied by a terrible mindset which will prevent him utilising his ability. but unlike babel, obertan will have a quality manager, and quality players around him to aid his development.
instead of Huntelaar?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMM89o72vMM 23years 11-15mil anyone?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMM89o72vMM
Fergie has a habit of springing out surprises like what he did with Anderson. This guy seems to have to potential to be similar to Ronaldo. His physique and style of play and the way he runs is somewhat similar. Hopefully Fergie has found a raw gem and hope he makes it a shiny diamond.
Obertan is a top top prospect who has been given up on from what I’ve seen. I think Sir Alex will give him the No.7 to boost his self confidence and then who knows how good he could become. If he signs,and for such a small fee,I can’t wait to see him in action.
ancha …. So you think we have replaced Ronaldo with Valencia.
joero…. Fair enough.
frodoisdead… Why can’t UTD fans dream of a big signing. Don’t we pay enough for our season tickets. Aren’t we loyal enough. Isn’t the club in the top two earners in World football. Didn’t we just sell Ronaldo for 80 million. I am not saying only buy big players. Contunue the youth process but support SAF and let hime buy one big name player.
SAF must see somfink in em looks like we cud go back to 4 4 2 nxt season.
if he has to become another talent like ronaldo…he must be given consistent first team chances…straight away…..which looks less probable….looking at the squad we have..
I’m not expecting a major signing..I would be happy if we got the hunter though…if we’re looking at rough diamnods why aren’t we looking at Stéphane Sessegnon who likes like the second coming of Michael Essien. Not only is he strong on the ball and wicked skills, he is the right age (25) and could make an impact right away. Don’t know if its because he is from Benin is the problem but this guy will be a major star in a year or so….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSSQIPg8pKU
i dont think..he will replace ronaldo….what im saying is that he is a damn good winger…and thats what we need…if we are to play rooney in more central role…
i am not saying we should not buy big players….we should buy according to our needs….to me we need some one like yaya toure..or veloso…first…before signing anyone else..i think that will satisfy you regarding signing big players
I sincerely hope this doesn’t run out to be the case but the last time we signed a quick, tricky winger who is likened to henri we got David Bellion. Whatever happened to him? Is he still running?
Why is everyone thinking Obertan will have the potential to be another Ronaldo? that is what everyone said about Nani, lets be clear here Ronaldo potential was evident at 17 and a Sporting star player, Obertan is 20 and been loaned out to an below average French team. We would NEVER have been able to buy Ronaldo for £3 mil, my mother always say ‘you get what you pay for’.
thats another valid point @sabien24….to those who wish he will be the next superstar!
signing a big name doesn’t always work.
how many established world class names have we bought in saf’s era that have continued to be world class at united?-
can anybody name 5?
in my opinion we have had better results in signing little known up and coming players and turning them into world beaters a la ronaldo.
spending big money doesn’t guarantee anything.
veron was without doubt world class before he came to united but he couldn’t hack the premier league or the size and pressures of bein a united player.
we nearly paid silly money for ronaldihno but missed out on him but we didn’t suffer cos of it.
not very long after we signed a virtual unknown in ronaldo for what has turned out to be relative peanuts.
unfortunately it ain’t an exact science.
Why do som united fans think they know more than SAF, com on have a little faith.
tobbe Said,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMM89o72vMM
Someone get him a pacifier (dummy)
Well said Lofty.
lets face it
we all have transfer fever
we love the hype
we love getting up in the morning and puttin sky sports news on and checkin rom to see whats happened while we’ve slept.
but i learnt a long time ago not to take anything for granted and to ultimately trust the boss.
if we were all the fantasy managers we believe we are then i’m sure fergies scouts would have noticed our tactical genius a long time ago and signed us up!
cdonyi Said,
Bloody Hell cdonyi, I must confess i have never heard of Stéphane Sessegnon, i half heartedly clicked on your link and was blown away by this guy, i know they say you can edit video to make anyone look good and poor opposition but you can’t disguise talent and this guy has it all pace strength, his close contact skills, brilliant goals he is unbelivable and your right he does remind you of an Essien but i think this guy is even better, SAF should keep an eye on him Arsenal was after him until he decided to stay with PSG and he would have cost 12 mil euros at the time, I mentioned Veloso earlier but he will cost 21 mil, if Obertan is worth a punt Sessegnon definatly is.
I’m still confused about the obsession with more forwards and attacking midfielders when the real need is for an Essien-type Man-ster (part man, part monster) in midfield.
Fletcherinho has been a kind of LittleMe version of what is needed; Owen Hargreaves would address that need if he could get fit and stay fit; and, of course, Daniele di Rossi would be the best choice, short of TheOriginalEssien.
The “need” for another striker is now rather less pressing – behind Rooney/Berbatov there’s now three options although none is exactly ready-for-prime-time in the case of injury to either or both of the first-choice guys. But you can’t build a footie team on contingencies – injuries happen and they sometimes fuck up all plans. Still, the striker department seems OK, although the addition of a bulldozer-style center forward would not be amiss.
The other place that UTD’s depth/quality is worrying is in goal – who can believe in Foster’s fitness or Kuzcszak’s quality or VDS’s ability to maintain his level of play at nearly 40 ? A great team starts with a strong foundation – those three guys in the defensive diamond – in goal and central defence. Right now, the situation in goal is worrying while the condition of Rio’s health is something of a red flag, too. UTD won the tri-peat by having that strong foundation – it sure as hell wasn’t by scoring freely. It’s crucial to build on that strength.
This French kid – who knows ?
I am pleased with Owen and very optimistic.
Valencia doesnt excite me but I am optimistic.
Oberon , well, I have never heard of him but again optimistic.
Optimism isnt enough though is it….
I REALLY WANT TO HAVE THE FEELING REAL FANS MUST HAVE HAD WHEN THEY SIGNED RONNIE. OR THE FEELING I HAD WHEN WE SIGNED BERBATOV.
BUT WILL I ?
Oh wow, when I first saw the news a few days ago, I thought a starlet trailed by the likes of Arsenal and Milan would set us back at least 10 mil.
To see that we are only paying 3 mil for player with potential like this, it’s gotta be a good bit of business by Fergie. I know that his form has been horrible as of late but Fergie must know that there is talent there somewhere.
Here’s hoping that he doesn’t turn out to be a David Bellion and that he will realise his potential at United.
obertan was the MVP at this years Toulon tournament…
hopefully thats not the best thing we can say about him
i’m not convinced that we need to start looking for a defensive midfielder.
i’m more of the opinion, that if we go about our usual business of going forward in the right way, we shouldn’t have to worry about the opposition going forward too much.
we didn’t have an out and out defensive midfielder for much of last season and we hardly suffered defensively because of it.
it’s a cliche but we are far better attacking as a team and defending as one.
looking back on last season i’d say it was ball retention and chances converted that let us down-the obvious example being the champions league final.
our passing was terrible-and barca capitalised on that.
if our finishing in the opening minutes had been better we would’ve walked the rest of the game.
i reckon we need a midfielder who can hold and pass the ball under pressure and a striker who will bury more of what we create therefore taking pressure off the rest of the side while at the same time creating confidence.
who knows!!
finding ronaldo just like 1 in 1000..he was 18 when he bombardized our defense by himself..ive never been that excited watchin a player for d first time..n after that , i found quite similar excitement when i saw alexis sanchez..so why we dont sign him??..id rather have only 3 quality signings rather than many halfbaked talents for this summer..
we lost our 2best players, ..just like reminiscin’ summer 2003,when we bought bellion,djemba2,kleberson, n ronaldo..only 1 came out as a succesfull signing…u better have 1 diamond than 3 ruby..
Laurent Blanc is a smart guy, so im slightly worried that even he doesnt see much good in him at the moment.
I trust Fergie but i just dont understand this signing seeing as we kind of need players who will definatly be able to play well where as this seems like a signing we will have to wait a couple of seasons to see the good side of him.
Either way its only on the cheap so we havent used up to much money.
Would love to see Laurent Blanc as an assistant or manager at United one day i think he’s top class.
Is this even the same chap in the youtube clips?
Why is everybody so obsessed with chucking money away?
Lets just keep the squad together and develop the likes of Macheda, Da Silvas, Wellbeck, Gibson, Tosic etc…
We can then sign somebody next season as Real have driven everyones price up my almost 50%.
I heard we are buying him for 3 mil but the sun says 8 mil. I know not to pay attention to the sun but can someone clarify his price or is it not known? I’ve watched Obertan on youtube and he looks class.
Some of the pessimism on this site is almost sickening. Just have faith in Sir Alex. Also to Herdino,we have lost one of our best players this summer but to suggest that Tevez was the 2nd best player at the club is laughable!
3 million…this should be the price for unproven player like Tosic, Ljajic, Anderson and Nani… wonder why Bordeux didn’t ask for more… maybe it’s because Blanc is the manager… Still we got so many to spend but I’m hoping for at least one quality and proven player… I think the idea of getting Huntelaar and Sneijder from Real is great… They’re a good players but at club like Real, they didn’t have much chance and with shitty manager and stupid club management, their career will be over in no time…
this guy will not play for the first team next season, maybe in league cup but thats it.. If hes not good enough for Bordeaux hes not good enough for Man Utd.. simple as that.
Still i hope i does well for the reserves
Thought it was £8million!
As far as I knew Ljijac is more of a central attacking midfielder not a left winger. I may be wrong.
How many people here have seen Obertan play? Dont say youve seen him on Youtube
Youtube made Nani look world class, he hasnt proven himself (yet)
Give the guy a chance before jumping on his back.
Its almost like some people want our new signings to fail, just so Fergie MIGHT spend £100m on 3 players who we dont need
And why do people want Huntelaar and Aguero, even after weve signed Owen? I would have liked Aguero, but Owen was signed and I moved on. We have so many youngsters coming through, why would we splash £30m on a player when we have some exciting prospects in the youth teams?
our problem… we are doing wat city and madrid are doing and only focusing on attack… we NEED desperatly a holding midfileder or a defensive midfielder as you may call it… it will change everything considerably and youll realize yourself… VELOSE anyone?? :S
and if we lookie for a striker (tho not rlly needed) HIGUAIN anyone????
and i REALLY REALLY WANT ALEXIS SANCHEZ…
This is friggin Ridiculous ..Who the F### is ths guy…and BTW why the hell do we need a guy who couldn’t figure in Bordeaux’s First team.Trust me he is another Bellion in the making….
“psychological and mental challenges” hmmmmm…..I would have thought physical challenges because of his built(looks too tall for a winger)
some people seem to have forgotten the debt that the Glazers have put us into….
reanatop augusto is a way better option to this obertan lad
we need Marek Hamsik or Sneijder. so obvious to see…..WAKE UP FERGIE
realred – Sneijder to me is completely over rated. We already have Fletch, Carrick, and Ando who admittedly needs to raise his game this season. Not been funny mate but to say “Wake up Fergie” is a piss take.
I dnt know ….doesn’t sound too promising a player to me….i hope I’m wrong …..can’t wait to see Adam Ljjajic though …heard a lot of good things about him ……
some of you are so fickle. give the guy a chance. to me he seems to have all the ingredients.
It looks like there’s two strategies going on here. We seem to be beefing up the second team, maybe to cope with the season end congestion. If that’s the case we’ll see more rotation, especially against the lower teams – pretty much a Carling Cup side against the strugglers.
Valencia and Owen strengthen our squad but don’t really extend our best team. Maybe if Owen recaptures his form he would do that, but that’s a gamble.
For that reason I’m still expecting a significant signing, not a Ribery or a Messi necessarily, but someone who you’ll bet will be one of the first names on the team sheet. Someone who won’t have us debating whether he’s better than another squad player.
More rotation, in every position, and a player whose name you’ll see on a lot of shirts. IMHO
just afraid that this year signing will be as same as djemba2, kleberson, and forlan signing…hope will not…but i have this tiny feeling that says it will….
sir alex has been watching him for years.
who is a better judge?
FM DRIVEN ASPIRING MOURINHOS OR SIR ALEX FERGUSON WHO HAS WON AS MANY MAJOR TROPHIES AS ANY SPORTSMAN ALIVE?
Tonka Norris @ 0:13 – good point about strengthening the second team/squad. IF – and it’s always “IF” – the first-team can stay fit at the business-end of the season then the only obvious “need” is for someone else to score goals.
UTD’s attack from 07-09 was built around CR’s special talents and the ball was funnelled in to him all the time – that’s why SAF cut his ties with Van Nistelrooy so surgically.
Next year’s team is going to play in a very different manner – less of the “whirligig” interchanging forwards and perhaps a much more structured, positionally-stable midfield, too. That might be why SAF has now bought two wingers – plus Tosic – while hoping that Nani can finally emerge as a talent in his own right now that CR has left the building. This suggests a kind of back-to-the-future look with a pair of fairly “orthodox” wingers which hasn’t been the style of play from TheLads during the CR7-era.
Who knows – maybe a change is as good as resting on our laurels ?
I’d really like to see the addition of a dominant midfielder – perhaps Fletcherinho can ramp his game up a grade, same goes for Anderson – but the key will be the Rio/Vidic fulcrum: those two have to stay healthy and match-fit.
again my comment is
In Fergie We Trust
I still believe Fergie knows what he is doing… I think we the fans owe SAF a big apology because we sang “fergie sign him up”, we embarrassed him while he was trying to make a speech(even though i’m not one of that group), and which later we all come to hate Tevez . So please dont anybody question SAF anymore. I feel guilty and embarrassed enough my fellow fans did that.
In all of the premiership who has built tme most number of sucessful teams?
Erm – Fergie
Time and time again he has built and put the foundations in place of succesful teams. Teams not all playing the same formation and style! He has this magical ability to evolve the team with the times and also adapt the formation and tactics to suit the players he has got!
loosing Ronaldo is a big loss as it would be to any team, You take the number 1 star player out of every team and it has an effect. Ronaldo is gone, job done lets move on!
What i dont want is panic buying! What is the point in just throwing our money around! So if we dont win the prem next year and we build this year so what!! Every team has to rebuild and mature!
Fergie will not get this wrong, and he will use his money wisely! The team will improve and possibly as a team be better then we were with ronaldo!!
Im getting sick and tired of these arm chair arseholes who through what they say obviously know fuck all about football or maybe they are just thick!
Around the country United Supporters get slagged off, and reading some of the comments on this forum its no fucking wonder why!
I wish these idots would just fuck off and suport chity or chelsea!
@Red.Shanks
djemba2 was Awful – In the French League looked Awsome – Looked as good as Essian in the french league that year.. Just didnt improve or handle the premiership pace or playing for United
kleberson – Was unlucky with Injuries and Adapting to the premier league 0 In addition he didnt have too many oppertunities we at that time were struggling with our formation and form. We had Keane and Scholes and had an imature Ronaldo in the team who had a negative effect on the team at that time -(negative as in was caught out of position, Left the Defence Exposed (Fergie hadnt formed the formation round him at that time!) Gave the ball away alot, Infuriated his Team mates )
forlan – Now i really liked forlan, He showed glimses of a great player! He might not have scored too many goals and struggled at times. But he was a real live wire. His shooting was fantastic, 20 – 30 yar shots within 1 – 2 yards of the post time again. What he needed was a good run of games in the team, and a little more confidence. Unfortunitaly Fergie had to buy rooney a year earlier so him and RVN got the starting slots with Forlan getting the odd game or 10 – 15 minutes at the end! Its no supprise when Forlan went to Spain he was Awsome! —- Just didnt work out because of the circumstances!
@realred Said,July 7th, 2009 @18:57
Who Said —–reanatop augusto is a way better option to this obertan lad
we need Marek Hamsik or Sneijder. so obvious to see…..WAKE UP FERGIE
Are you a top scout? Do you have managerial credentials that compete with Fergie.
If not… Fuck off and Support city you cock!
@Wilsy21
Who Said ——This is friggin Ridiculous ..Who the F### is ths guy…and BTW why the hell do we need a guy who couldn’t figure in Bordeaux’s First team.Trust me he is another Bellion in the making….
Fuck off and Support City!
Spot on Trevor, with you all the way. I too am getting annoyed to fuck with these people doubting Sir Alex. I reckon now Ronnie has gone a number of “fans” will too!
The best case scenario with Obertan is that he will prosper like TearyHenry did at TheArse after blotting his copybook in Italy; the worst case scenario is that he will be the second coming of David Bellion. After getting LittleMikey for FREE, this guy is hardly costing much more, is he ? These kind of “flutters” almost never work but sometimes – Evra, Cantona come to mind as guys with huge skill but somewhat lost in their careers – they do and when they do they are wonderful to behold. Basically, it’s all about fine-tuning a team in need of position-competition to bring out the best in two of Nani/Obertan/Valencia/Tosic/Park – Valencia and Park look like shoo-ins to get lots of playing time, the other three are in a dogfight and it might just be Fergy’s way of shoving something up Nani’s arse to get (and keep) his attention.
@King Eric
They are not real fans!…
One other point lads, I hear an interview that Blanc her former manager said that the boy has some mental issues!!!
Thinking of cantona! How many people labeled Cantona a Trouble Maker! Unhandleable???
Look what he done!
lookin good for us fergie is the master
cantona mental what is wrong with ya man .we didnt really know what he was on about .but what a footballer…..
@kingkeane
Cantona was a true god in Manchester United’s Eyes, but few other managers were able to taim his troubled past and control the man!
Erm – Some Facts about the Great man which make me chuckle!!!
Cantona Played in the Under 21 French Side which Won the 1988 Euro Championship
Joined French Side Marseille in 1988 – During a pre season friendly against Torpedo Moscow after being substituted Ripped off his Shirt and threw it as the manager – Receives 1 month ban!!
One Month after the above incident, During a TV Interview Proceeds to Insult the French International Manager and receives a 1 year International Ban!
Marselle Loaned him to Bordeaux then when they sent him back he went to Montpellier – At Montipellier a fight with one of his team mates resulted in Six Players to Demand his Sacking . – Result Cantona Transferred to Nimes the Folowing Season.
Playing for Nimes after disagreeing with a refereeing decision picked the ball up and launched it at him! – Result The French Football Federation
Gave him a 1 Month Ban! Cantona’s responded by Insulting each member once again and his ban was doubled to 2 months!
1991 – Eric Cantona Retires from Football
1992 – Michel Platini Persuaded to make a comeback and he signed for Leeds!
1992 – Less than a year he Signs for United and the rest is history!
Just goes to prove how good a man handler Fergie is! He is a master of not only seeing the talent that the rest of us cant yet see but also getting the best out of players!