United secured the signature of French starlet Gabriel Obertan on 8 July 2009, with the highly-rated forward/winger joining the Reds from Bordeaux following a four-year spell with Les Girondins.
Prior to his arrival at Bordeaux, Obertan began his career with local club Paris-Pantin FC, before making the switch to Paris FC in 2002 and then Paris-Saint Germain. After spending a year at each, he moved to the famed Clairefontaine Academy in order to further his development, before being spotted by Bordeaux scouts.
He joined Les Girondins in 2005 and spent his first year plying his trade inthe reserves. After being offered a three-year professional contract in 2006, he was promoted to the first team at the start of the 2006/07 season and made his debut, aged 17, on 30 September 2006 against Valenciennes. He fired his first goal for the club on 22 April 2007, scoring the second in a 2-0 win over Saint-Étienne. By the end of the campaign he had racked up 17 appearances, 16 of them as a substitute.
The following season, he featured in 26 matches and scored two goals, but he was still limited to mostly substitute appearances due to the abundance of strikers at manager Laurent Blanc's disposal. That trend continued into 2008/09 resulting in Obertan being loaned out to fellow Ligue 1 side Lorient for the second half of the campaign, during which time he featured 15 times, scoring once.
On the international front, Obertan has progressed through the ranks for his country receiving caps at Under 16, 17, 18 and 19 levels. He is currently involved in the French under 21 squad.
Now a Red after signing a four-year deal, the versatile Frenchman is looking forward to the challenge that comes with playing at Old Trafford. "I am very happy to join Manchester United," he said. "This is a big opportunity for me to play at such a great club. I am very excited to be here and I look forward to proving what I can do."
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