Charlie Klein
As anyone who follows world football by now knows, Manchester United sold the reigning FIFA World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for a record 80 million pounds last summer. With the 'Ronaldo Money' United bought Luis Antonio Valencia (17m), Gabriel Obertan (3m) and Michael Owen (free). While most (including yours truly) rushed to anoint Valencia as Ronaldo's replacement, perhaps such an assessment was a bit rushed. Valencia does play the right midfield position that Ronaldo occupied for most of his United tenure, but truth be told Ronaldo was more of a forward in a 4-3-3 that United played with last season.
While Valencia has taken all of the pressure of 'replacing' Ronaldo, 20 year-old Gabriel Obertan has begun to show flashes of Ronaldo-like potential. In his handful of appearances this season, Obertan has provided a spark on the wings that his Portuguese counterpart Luis Nani has been unable to contribute. His elegant step overs and blistering pace, especially when United counterattack, are a joy to watch. Every time he enters the game the commentators say that they have heard nothing but great things from their French counterparts about the potential of Obertan.
It may be a bit too soon to label Obertan as 'The Next Ronaldo.' He is only 20 and has much to do in order to live up to that potential. And I personally am not a fan of calling players the next so and so, but I thought that this may spark some debate. If there was anything good about United's performance yesterday in the Champions League it was that Obertan played a full 90 minutes.
This is a video of one of Obertan's reserves appearances, notice especially what number he is wearing.
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