Arsenal are said to be keeping tabs on highly-rated Bordeaux striker Gabriel Obertan who rejected joining the Premier League earlier last month.
The 19-year-old youngster has scored twice for “Le Girondins” in 26 appearances, most of those coming off the bench.
Obertan is 6 ft 1 foward blessed with “Thierry Henry” style speed and a dribbling ability likened to former France international legend Zinedine Zidane.
Playing in more of a “Bergkamp” role for Bordeaux, Obertan has reportedly been watched by Gunners’ French based scout Gilles Grimandi who has recommended him to Chief scout Steve Rowley.
Both Chelsea and United monitored his progress before he signed professional terms with Les Girondins in July, but Obertan has stressed that he never seriously considered a switch to England.
Experienced former Bordeaux forward Jean-Claude Darcheville believes Obertan is destined for great things, and has likened the youngster to Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo due to his talent for dribbling.
“The boy is shy, he doesn’t talk a lot, but listens to everyone,” said Darcheville.
“He reminds me of Cristiano Ronaldo, but better. And he will be better.”
The World of Arsenal blog reported earlier today about us being linked with the front man. Someone who they feel could be a valuable addition to our paper-thin squad.
June 1, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Do we really need another striker, probably not, but if this bloke is actually how good he’s being portrayed then we I wouldn’t say no.
June 1, 2008 at 4:28 pm
*then we shouldn’t say no. I’m saying we like i’m part of Arsenal.. How much is he being valued at?
June 1, 2008 at 4:30 pm
around the £5 million mark
June 1, 2008 at 4:30 pm
To be honest, Obertan is not a striker. He’s more Quaresma than any striker in the world.
So basically he’s a winger with bags of tricks. My mate J. Sanderson can back my claims though coz both of us are fans of this French youngster.
June 1, 2008 at 4:35 pm
do u know anything new on the Nasri deal?
June 1, 2008 at 4:38 pm
patience is the key Kesnort.
June 1, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Well if he is a striker and he’s only scored 2 goals in 26 matchs that’s not exactly impressive especially considering that Bendtner and Theo both have more goals than that and they are both of a similar age, although that doesn’t tell the whole story of course.
I doubt we’ll be getting him with Vela, Theo, Bendtner, RVP, Eduardo and Adebayor as well as Barazite although it could be possible as a winger considering we’ve got Rosicky, Hleb (leaving?), and Eboue (hell no!), and Arsene said Theo and Vela would be strikers, although Theo, Vela, RVP and Eduardo can all play as wingers if required, and Nasri if he comes.
June 1, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Better than Ronaldo?!?! That’s a big, big comment…
June 1, 2008 at 4:40 pm
yes, im running out of patience this thing has been dragging on for weeks
June 1, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Maybe worth the 5 mill. Haven’t seen much of him to be honest. A problem would be that he’ll be at the back of the pecking order. At 19 y.o he’ll need game time to develop.
June 1, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Like kevline said, he’s more of a Quaresma type player from the games i’ve seen him play he likes to cut inside a lot.
June 1, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Like I said, anythings possible with Wenger, It wouldn’t surprise me if we got both Nasri and Obertan.
June 1, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Lets be honest, its JCD, who failed at Forest and is an average striker at best who is saying that he is better than Ronaldo. JCD has never played with anyone decent so what position is he in to judge?
Only players and managers who have experience alongside the great can pass judgement in my opinion.
That said, I read a World Soccer article gushing Ober Gabriel so maybe this is one to keep tabs on
June 1, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Has anyone got a link to him on youtube, my internet’s crap and i can only get to things when people give me stuff to click on.
June 1, 2008 at 5:04 pm
FINALLY! Have screamed for this player for over a year. Extremley good, reminds me of Henry, but more of a winger.
June 1, 2008 at 5:16 pm
well u can scream some more mate cause it aint happening. GET RAMSEY IN.
June 1, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Wenger’s off to italy (supposedly on holiday) but i bet he’s gonna have a little word in alberto aquilani’s ear….
June 1, 2008 at 5:21 pm
This player’s good from what I’ve seen. Has got lightning pace and great creativity. Would be one heck of a signing. I would like him and Gouffran to come in as well as Henri Saivet
June 1, 2008 at 5:22 pm
New Jack Wilshere Video:
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June 1, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Ive never heard of him, or seen anything of him but he is the best player in France.
June 1, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Adebayor was like dis guy b4 he came to Arsenal in terms of goals.He could just be a great guy l8r on .I feel will should give walcott,barazite and bendtner more time.
sometimes, i wonder why people turn off this Eboue guy
like he has done nothing for Arsenal .before sagna came he was thr for us on right back but cos he has not been d best in d right wing we all push him out.
June 1, 2008 at 6:09 pm
adebayor was like this guy? hHAHAHAHAHAH what nuts are you chomping mate
June 1, 2008 at 6:14 pm
He’s right, Adebayor had a poor scoring record in his last few seasons at Monaco – Wenger still bought him.
June 1, 2008 at 6:14 pm
odepii mate its not just about his performances, it’s his overall attitude, it sucks, diving, always complaining, wreckless challenges, getting sent off for no reason, its a mixed bag my friend, a mixed bag, of assorted nuts.
June 1, 2008 at 6:18 pm
yeah but im talkin about overall you cant compare ade to obertain cause theyre two completely different players, it starts with no comparison. Obertain also plays on the right wing and adebayor hardly had any games for monaco in his last couple seasons.
To be honest I reckon if wenger’s looking for a front man theres got to be something shifty going on with adebayor and his wage demands as there’s him, van persie, vela, bendtner all vying for a place upfront theres just no need to sign an additional striker.
June 1, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Obertan is a winger who can be used as a striker, thats the reason I feel Wenger might buy him.
June 1, 2008 at 6:24 pm
i agree and he’d be a top buy as we do need cover on the wings, i mean the catastrophy of eboue getting a string of games on the right just simply can’t happen. theo’s got to start with nasri on the left. Rosicky and someone new i.e. ramsey, obertain for cover. the squad needs to have in depth quality this year to win the title and the champions league.
June 1, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Who did this guy reject to stay with Bordeaux??
June 1, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Jesus again with Ramsey he’s alright but the way people talk about him you’d think he was George Best. Cardiff are probably gonna ask for 10-15 mill now with all this hype.
June 1, 2008 at 6:54 pm
“Paper Thin Squad” Personally except for defence with the signing of Nasri i feel we have great options midfield and upfront is packed full of great players. Even with the goalies we still have Almunia and Fabiaski who i think will be great in a season or 2.
June 1, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Obertan sounds like a Wenger buy though. I was kind of hoping for Nasri and Ben Arfa to join but it looks like Ben Arfa will stay in France unless Arsene knows something we don’t. I wonder if Guardado, who we were linked with before he went to Deportivo, would be a good addition to our team he’s had a great season in Spain.
June 1, 2008 at 7:11 pm
JohnV, what about defence??
June 1, 2008 at 7:29 pm
John V if we did have real quality strength in depth we’d have won the title, the players who came in for ones who were injured were not of the quality arsenal should possess.
June 1, 2008 at 7:37 pm
MARKO ramsey is not just ALRITE have u seen the boy play, he’s top quality, very gerrardesque. great feet, super delivery, burst of pace, adebayor would love him.
June 1, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Having Eboue play one game never mind the amount he did play at right midfield, instead of a decent winger showed how lacking we were in certain areas. The same with Diaby having to be played on the left.
We can’t go into the new season hoping (praying, making animal sacrifices, etc) that RvP and Rosicky will be injury free, therefore we need adequate cover upfront as well.
Theo should be 1st choice RM, with Eboue, either sold for a bag of M&Ms or only used as cover for Sagna. Nasri can be gradually brought in, either at RM or in place of Cesc. That still leaves the left wing, gawd I hope we sign someone like Ben Arfa, or even Ben Arfa himself!
That leaves the defence; a CB who’s about 7ft tall and can play at LB when needed then!
June 1, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Am i the only arsenal fan that thinks we need wingers?? not another average striker… imo we dont have ANY wingers, maybe hleb but he could be on his way out & rosicky, diaby & eboue are definetly not wingers…
cant compare with the pires’s the freddie’s & the overmar’s.. nasri looks all good but is he the missing part in the team??
we need 2 go back for ribery a real winger imo who wenger let slip away like he did with many other players.
June 1, 2008 at 9:10 pm
you guys are forgetting we lost the league and the champions league off of bad ref decisions, we should have won the double or something this season we were just a bit unlucky. If anything we need to beef up are defence were fine everywhere else.
June 1, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Gabriel Obertan would be an excellent aquisition for your squad, one of Europe’s finest young players.
As a ManUtd fan, I would like to say, Arsenal, cotinue the way that you are. You do not need to increase your wage limit like Robin Van Persie thinks, a club of your stature will attract the right players regardless of pay.
Good luck.
http://www.vop-say.co.cc
June 2, 2008 at 4:44 pm
I cant agree daniel mate, thats just not good enough.. cant always blame bad decisions etc.. we might have lost the CL by a couple bad decisions but imo we lost the leauge the day eduardo was injured.
even though we had plenty of time to stay on top after the birmingham game are squad just wernt strong enough & if we dont do somthing about it were gonna fall short next season like we did last.. If we just bought in 1 good winger a CM & micah richards then we might have a better chance of winning somthing.
June 3, 2008 at 1:56 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0S7Hc87MfU Heres some footage of obertan.. looks good, bit like a younger TH.. do u guys not think theo could be doing this for us though???
June 3, 2008 at 5:49 pm
I agree