Manchester United, Newcastle... Charlotte Independence? Gabriel Obertan's odd career

USL side Charlotte Independence - playing in the second-tier of US soccer - this week announced the signing of the former French prodigy

This week, United Soccer League (USL) side Charlotte Independence – playing in the second-tier of domestic United States soccer – announced the signing of former Manchester United winger Gabriel Obertan.

The most striking aspect of this transfer for neutral observers is not that the former Premier League winger has ended up in a relatively obscure location – Obertan's nomadic career has included spells in such far flung locations as Bulgaria, Turkey and Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

It is the fact that Obertan, one of those players who has seemingly been around forever, is still only 32 years old.

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The former winger – known less than affectionately as 'Gabriel Overran' by certain fans of his former clubs – had much expected of him when he burst onto the scene at Bordeaux, earning a prime move to Old Trafford.

Indeed, many seasons were spent in some of the biggest leagues in European football, with only the last three or four years seeing a slide into obscurity for the mercurial wide man.

Obertan – who joins up with another former Newcastle white elephant winger, Sylvain Marveaux, in Charlotte – may no longer be at his peak, but his signing has been greeted with excitement by Independence.

“Gabriel is another huge signing for our club,” said Independence head coach Mike Jeffries. “Not only does he bring a wealth of experience from top clubs throughout the world, he is a proven difference-maker in the game at high levels.

"He raises the bar for our group each day with his ability to see and make plays as well as his competitiveness. I am excited to integrate him with the team and get him on the field. Our fans will appreciate the addition of another top, dynamic attacking player.”

Ultimately, Obertan will always be regarded as a player who never reached the peak his early powers seemed to suggest he would.

Representing France at every youth level between Under-16 and U21 having graduated from the prestigious Clairefontaine academy – France's hub of World Cup winning production, where stars from Nicolas Anelka and Thierry Henry to Blaise Matuidi and Kylian Mbappe learned their trade – he seemed destined for a stellar international career.

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He made his professional debut for Bordeaux in the 2006-07 season, aged only 17. Impressing in Ligue 1, Man Utd came calling in 2009, with his manager in France, ex-Red Devils star Laurent Blanc, advising Sir Alex Ferguson that he was worth a chance.

Obertan had gained far more experience than most players of his age at Man Utd at the time. He played 79 times as a teenager for Bordeaux, including 11 Ligue 1 games of the 2008-09 season when they won the French league title.

He spent the second half of the campaign on loan at Lorient, but this was not a greenhorn player thrown in at the deep end – he had Champions League experience. However, a large issue for the then-20-year-old was the man whose sizeable boots he had to fill.

2009 was the summer Cristiano Ronaldo was sold to Real Madrid for a world-record fee. Obertan was a £3 million ($4m) punt – to expect him to even partially fill such a void was an immense expectation.

No doubt United were not expecting Obertan to carry the full weight left by Ronaldo, and were linked with seemingly every decent wide player in world football.

Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Nicolas Gaitan and more were all reportedly seen shopping in the Arndale Centre or stepping off a train at Manchester Piccadilly at some point that summer.

Antonio Valencia was signed, and would go on to become a modern Old Trafford legend, but there was still plenty of expectation that Obertan would step up as CR7 had before him. It was not to be.

A nasty injury to his spine which kept him out of the first month of the 2009-10 season put Obertan on the back foot, and under the pressure of playing for Man Utd, it was always tough to catch up.

Obertan made 28 appearances over two seasons for Man Utd, scoring only once, against Bursaspor in the 2010 Champions League group stage.

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He did get a Premier League winner's medal, though; making the bare minimum six league appearances meant he could be immortalised as one of those answers you can never remember in a table quiz.

However, United had lost faith by summer 2011, and were grateful when Newcastle United came calling with a cheque for £3m.

His first season on Tyneside was his best in English football, helping Newcastle to a fifth place finish under the management of Alan Pardew in 2011-12, which frankly seems ever more miraculous as the years go by.

End product was the issue for Obertan – one goal in 23 league appearances in 2011-12 – and as his games for Newcastle became fewer and further between, at the end of a five-year spell, he had a total of three in 73 matches.

The sight of him pushing the ball past a full-back and out of play, losing control mid-dribble and the ball going out of play, or overhitting a cross and it going out of play, were much more common.

Following Newcastle's relegation, Obertan went on a magical mystery tour of clubs, from Anzhi Makhachkala to Wigan Athletic, Levski Sofia to Erzurumspor.

He now lands in Charlotte, where hopefully he can settle and play the regular football he has been denied ever since leaving Bordeaux – 51 league games over two seasons in Sofia aside.

After signing him in 2009, Ferguson said Man Utd had been tracking Obertan for several seasons, but had not been able to sign him when they first wanted.

"Our efforts to get him here have always been delayed," the manager said at the time.

Perhaps if United had brought him in sooner, Obertan could have settled easier over more time in Manchester and he would have had greater success.

Instead, he is now the star attraction of North Carolina soccer.

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