Gabriel Obertan

Gabriel Obertan
Gabriel Obertan.jpg
Personal information
Full name Gabriel Antoine Obertan[1]
Date of birth 26 February 1989 (1989-02-26) (age 21)
Place of birth Pantin, France
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Winger
Club information
Current club Manchester United
Number 26
Youth career
1997–2002 Paris-Pantin
2002–2003 Paris
2003–2004 Paris-Saint Germain
2004–2005 INF Clairefontaine
2005–2006 Bordeaux
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2006–2009 Bordeaux 54 (3)
2009 → Lorient (loan) 15 (1)
2009– Manchester United 7 (0)
National team‡
2004–2005 France U16 10 (1)
2005–2006 France U17 12 (3)
2006–2007 France U18 9 (0)
2007–2008 France U19 2 (1)
2008– France U21 9 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:08, 29 November 2009 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:18, 5 September 2010 (UTC)

Gabriel Antoine Obertan (born 26 February 1989) is a French footballer currently playing for Manchester United of England. He primarily plays as a winger, but can also play in the centre of midfield and as a striker. A former attendee of the famous Clairefontaine academy, Obertan began his professional career playing for Bordeaux in France, before joining Manchester United for an undisclosed fee in July 2009. He is a member of the France U21 football team and was named as France's best player overall at the 2009 Toulon Tournament.[2]

Contents

Club career

Early career

Obertan began his career playing for his local club in Pantin before moving to a higher level joining Paris FC in 2002. After spending a year there, he did what most youths at Paris FC often do and joined Paris-Saint Germain. Following another year of training, he moved to the famed Clairefontaine academy in order to further his development.[3] It was here where he was first spotted by Bordeaux scouts. After a year at Clairefontaine, he moved to Bordeaux to begin training with them.

Bordeaux

After spending only a year in the reserves, in 2006, Obertan agreed to his first professional contract, signing a three-year contract. He was promoted to the senior squad for the 2006–07 season and given the number 26 shirt. He made his professional debut in a league match on 30 September 2006, against Valenciennes, at the age of 17, coming on as a substitute playing 15 minutes. Valenciennes won the match 0–2. He scored his first goal on 22 April 2007 against Saint-Étienne in a 2–0 victory scoring the goal during injury time to seal the win. He made a total of 17 appearances that season, 16 of them as a substitute.

The following season, he signed a contract extension[4] and his playing time increased to 26 matches and two goals, though he was still limited to mostly substitute appearances, due to the abundance of other strikers manager Laurent Blanc had in his arsenal. For the first half of the 2008–09 season, his play was limited again, though when he did receive playing time, he continually impressed, scoring a brace in Bordeaux's 4–2 win over Guingamp in the Coupe de la Ligue. With Bordeaux contending for a title and Obertan not likely to receive playing time, Blanc decided to loan him out to fellow Ligue 1 side FC Lorient for the rest of the season, where Blanc believed the player would receive more playing time.[5]

At Lorient, Obertan made 15 league appearances scoring his only goal in a 3–1 win over Grenoble.[6] He also scored a goal against Tours during Lorient's Coupe de France campaign.[7]

Manchester United

Obertan playing for Manchester United in 2009.

On 6 July 2009, French newspaper L'Equipe announced that Bordeaux president Jean-Louis Triaud had reached an agreement with English club Manchester United for the transfer of Obertan with Triaud stating that an agreement had been reached several weeks ago and that the player had agreed contract terms.[8] The following day, Obertan successfully passed his medical in Manchester[9] and, on 8 July, signed his contract officially making him a Manchester United player.[10] The transfer fee was undisclosed, but is believed to be in the region of £3 million,[11] with Obertan joining the club on a four-year deal.[12]

Following three games for the Manchester United reserve team, including a 3–0 win over Oldham Athletic on his debut,[13][14] Obertan made his senior debut in the club's 2–0 away win over Barnsley in the League Cup fourth round on 27 October 2009.[15] He made his Premier League debut for Manchester United on 31 October 2009, coming on as a substitute in the 2–0 win over Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford.[16] His Champions League debut came that same week, replacing Federico Macheda in the 82nd minute in the 3–3 draw against CSKA Moscow on 3 November 2009.[17] On 8 December 2009, Obertan set up the second of Michael Owen's hat-trick in a 3–1 away victory at Wolfsburg in the Champions League, taking on 3 players before teeing Owen up for a simple tap-in.[18] On 15 December 2009, Obertan made his first league start for United, being replaced in the 71st minute by Danny Welbeck in a 3–0 home win over Wolves.[19]

Obertan scored his first Manchester United goal in a 1–0 win over Philadelphia Union on 21 July 2010 on the club's pre-season tour of North America.[20]

International career

Obertan has been active with France on the youth level. He has received caps with the U-16s, U-17s, U-18s, and the U-19s. With the under-16s, Obertan made 10 appearances scoring only one goal. The following season, he played with the under-17s making 12 appearances and scoring three goals. Despite appearing alongside players like David N'Gog, Moussa Sissoko, Adel Taarabt, and Grégory Sertic, Obertan and the team failed to qualify for the 2006 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship, due to their second place finish in the Elite Round. With the under-18s, Obertan made 9 total appearances, but failed to get on the scoresheet. He rarely played with the under-19 team making just 2 appearances and scoring his lone goal against Sweden in a 2–1 victory during the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship elite qualification round.[21]

Obertan earned his first cap with the under-21 team on 11 February 2009 against Tunisia. On 31 March 2009, he scored his first under-21 goal against the England under-21s in a friendly at the City Ground in Nottingham.[22]

Career statistics

Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Other[23] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Bordeaux 2006–07 17 1 1 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 23 1
2007–08 26 2 3 0 1 1 7 0 0 0 37 3
2008–09 11 0 1 0 1 2 5 0 1 0 19 2
Total 54 3 5 0 3 3 16 0 1 0 79 6
Lorient (loan) 2008–09 15 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 2
Manchester United 2009–10 7 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 13 0
2010–11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 7 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 13 0
Career total 76 4 8 1 5 3 19 0 1 0 109 8

Statistics accurate as of match played 17 April 2010[24][25][26]

Honours

Club

Bordeaux

References

  1. ↑ "Statistics" (PDF). Premier League. http://www.premierleague.com/staticFiles/7b/53/0,,12306~152443,00.pdf. Retrieved 3 August 2010. 
  2. ↑ Team of the Tournament (and other awards)
  3. ↑ "INF, formateur de talents" (in French). FFF. http://www.fff.fr/presentationfff/actualite/418646.shtml. Retrieved 2009-07-21. 
  4. ↑ Obertan prolonge pour deux ans
  5. ↑ Gabriel Obertan à Lorient
  6. ↑ Gabriel Obertan at Soccerway
  7. ↑ Lorient v. Tours Match Report
  8. ↑ Obertan vers MU!
  9. ↑ Obertan has United medical
  10. ↑ Gabriel Obertan poised to join Manchester United
  11. ↑ Smith, Rory (8 July 2009). "Manchester United sign Gabriel Obertan from Bordeaux on four-year contract". London: The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/5778527/Manchester-United-sign-Gabriel-Obertan-from-Bordeaux-on-four-year-contract.html. Retrieved 22 July 2009. 
  12. ↑ "Reds sign French starlet". Man Utd. 8 July 2009. http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={F9E570E6-407E-44BC-800F-4A3110258114}&newsid=6635851. Retrieved 8 July 2009. 
  13. ↑ Bartram, Steve (12 October 2009). "Res: Oldham 0 United 3". ManUtd.com (Manchester United). http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=6641182. Retrieved 26 October 2009. 
  14. ↑ Bostock, Adam (26 October 2009). "Obertan to face Barnsley". ManUtd.com (Manchester United). http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={F9E570E6-407E-44BC-800F-4A3110258114}&newsid=6641877. Retrieved 26 October 2009. 
  15. ↑ Stevenson, Jonathan (27 October 2009). "Barnsley 0–2 Man Utd". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/8323041.stm. Retrieved 27 October 2009. 
  16. ↑ "Man Utd 2–0 Blackburn". BBC Sport. 31 October 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8329669.stm. Retrieved 31 October 2009. 
  17. ↑ ."Man Utd 3–3 CSKA Moscow". BBC Sport. 3 November 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/8337865.stm. Retrieved 3 November 2009. 
  18. ↑ "Wolfsburg 1–3 Man Utd". BBC Sport. 8 December 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/8399065.stm. Retrieved 8 December 2009. 
  19. ↑ "Man Utd 3–0 Wolves". BBC Sport. 15 December 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8408337.stm. Retrieved 15 December 2009. 
  20. ↑ Thompson, Gemma (21 July 2010). "Philadelphia Union 0 United 1". ManUtd.com (Manchester United). http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={3165B97F-681E-4B39-BE53-94EC9521C3DA}&newsid=6650838. Retrieved 22 July 2010. 
  21. ↑ Sweden 1 – 2 France Match Report
  22. ↑ Peter Fraser (2009-03-31). "England handed wake-up call". Team Talk Media. https://secure.teamtalkmedia.com/football/euro2008/match-report/0,23136,12016_3120330,00.html. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 
  23. ↑ Includes other competitive competitions, including the Trophée des champions, FA Community Shield, UEFA Super Cup, Intercontinental Cup, FIFA Club World Cup
  24. ↑ Endlar, Andrew. "Gabriel Obertan". StretfordEnd.co.uk. http://www.stretfordend.co.uk/playermenu/obertan.html. Retrieved 3 November 2009. 
  25. ↑ "Gabriel OBERTAN's Time Played". ligue1.com. http://www.ligue1.com/joueur/detail_TempsJeu.asp?no_joueur=108470&saison=2008%2F2009&code_evt=. Retrieved 20 December 2009. 
  26. ↑ "Gabriel Obertan Football Profile". uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/. http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/gabriel-obertan.html. Retrieved 20 December 2009. 

External links

Manchester United F.C. – current squad

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