Soccerlens looks at foreigners and English football.

Two Footed Tackle’s fantasy fight: Ronaldo vs Mellberg.

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“I knew they had been following me for a few years but I did not think it was going to happen this season,” said Obertan. “We had no longer been in too much contact until the England Under-21s game where I played well for France and scored a goal. That helped things along. We spoke again, and I ended up signing. Ferguson has put me at ease. He said to me that he knows my pros and cons. It’s my potential that interests him. He has confidence in me. It is flattering and surprising. But I know I still have a lot of work to do to get to Ronaldo’s level.”

Rio Ferdinand has today claimed that the hard work of the pre-season pays off when the important games begin.

“The most important thing about pre-season is getting some good training done,” said Rio. “One of the main reasons we’ve been successful in the last few years is because we’ve had a good base from pre-season. It takes a bit of time to get acclimatised to the humid conditions in Asia, but it’s a good exercise to play against different teams that pose different threats.”

The right-back featured in four games for Manchester United last season, including two Premiership games against West Brom and Hull.

The 20-year-old Salford lad is seen as having potential to replace Gary Neville/Wes Brown and will be hoping to have a more success loan move than fellow full-back Danny Simpson.

“From an English football point of view I was gutted to see Cristiano Ronaldo leave,” said Neville. “I think he brought a lot to the Premier League, everyone enjoyed playing against him, he is the best player in the world and he entertains people. We want the best players to be playing in the Premier League because we feel we play the best football and we have the best product over here. Real Madrid are spending money but I still believe the Premier League is the best, the most exciting, the most honest, the most entertaining and we can be proud of that.”

He spoken to the press again today hailing Sir Alex Ferguson as the ‘maestro’ and that it was a ‘pleasure’ for him to play at Old Trafford.

“Ferguson is a maestro,” Ronaldo said. “For me he was my father in football. He was crucial in my career and, outside football, was a great human being with me. Talent isn’t everything. You can have it from the cradle, but it is necessary to learn the trade to be the best. When I arrived in England I was an 18-year-old kid and had established stars by my side. Ferguson taught me to clean up my faults, to know to give the pass at the last moment, to take the right decision in the area. I spent six years at United and I owe them everything that I am today. I made history at United and won many trophies. It was a pleasure to play at Old Trafford, but now a new stage in my life is beginning at the Bernabeu with new challenges.”

Manchester United’s new signing Gabriel Obertan put in a great performance for the French Under 21 team against England back in March.

The 20-year-old was sent out on loan by Bordeaux last season although Sir Alex Ferguson believes the winger is one for the future.

However, Obertan is carrying a slight injury so will not be taking part in the pre-season tour.

“Gabriel is a player we have tracked for a few years now, but because of his educational programme our efforts to get him here have always been delayed,” said Ferguson. “We are delighted to get him now as he is an exciting prospect. We like to get young players and develop them, and we will see that in Gabriel over the next two years.”

Obertan is as happy as the manager and hopes to prove he is worthy of a place in our team, after his current manager, Laurent Blanc, was surprised we were interested.

“I am very happy to join Manchester United,” Obertan added. “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.”

“Because now we have very good strikers in the team - Drogba, Anelka, Kalou,” said Ancelotti. “Sturridge is a young player but he can potentially be a great striker. Michael Owen is a great striker and at the moment is in a low period, but I think he is not an old player, he is young at 29. For sure Manchester United have lost two important players but United maintain a great team because they have a lot of good players and also have a tradition, and this is also important to build a team.”

Whilst it’s hard to argue with Anelka’s goalscoring record last season, particularly considering he isn’t the club’s penalty taker, it’s hard to imagine he will score 25 goals again, given that he will be turning 31 this season. He also went 13 games without a goal during the crucial February to April period and didn’t manage a goal in the big games.

Salomon Kalou has age on his side, set to turn 24-years-old this summer, however he’s never scored more than 7 goals in a season during his three years at the club.

Didier Drogba turns 32 this season after spending chunks of last season out on the treatment table. Every few months he seems to change his mind on where he wants to be playing and scored just five goals in the league last season.

Only time will tell how good this bit of business by Sir Alex was.

“As far as I know, no one has asked for an Owen shirt,” said a worker from the megastore. “We haven’t got his number yet which might have had an effect.”

Oh might it? You think? Is it not usual practice for fans to get a player’s name and number on the back of their shirt? Christ, it’s not rocket science! Of course nobody is going to get Owen on their shirt when they don’t know which number he will be playing in yet.

Whilst The Sun is being unfair printing this story now, do you think United fans will object to having Owen’s name on their shirt?