Berbatov tug o'war goes on

22:26 Wed 16 Jul 2008 - Alex Bivol

A day after reports in Britain said Tottenham Hotspur were ready to offload Dimitar Berbatov to Manchester United for a hefty 28 million pounds (35.4 million euro), UK broadsheet The Guardian said on July 16 that the London club were still adamant to keep their top scorer.

"He is itching to be granted a big move this time out," the newspaper said, referring to the Bulgarian striker's widely reported desire to play in the Champions League and recollecting that Berbatov already featured in one Champions League final, when he was on the losing side with Bayer Leverkusen, defeated by Real Madrid in 2002.

Despite Spurs rejecting an initial bid of 20 million pounds (25.3 million euro), "there is a cool confidence at Old Trafford that the chief executive, David Gill, will be able to close the deal", The Guardian said.

Willing to pay top prices for their targets, Tottenham have recently acquired a reputation for quiet stubborness when it came to parting ways with their top players. It took Manchester United weeks to secure the transfer of Michael Carrick in 2006 for 18.6 million pounds (23.5 million euro), a price that many fans and columnists considered over the top for a player with one year left on his contract.

The situation is different with Berbatov, who still has two seasons before his deal expires, with Tottenham having the option to extend it by two years.

Spurs might still settle to sell in order to give manager Juande Ramos the money he needs to make his own signings and with more than six weeks left before the end of the transfer window, Manchester United are thought to be thinking that they have enough time to get their target.

Berbatov has scored 23 goals in each of his two seasons in London since joining from Bayer Leverkusen for 10.9 million pounds (13.8 million euro) in 2006, repeatedly saying that he has turned out a last-minute attempt by United to hijack the deal.

But with Tottenham unable to secure more than Uefa Cup football this season, he is thought to be eager to leave to play in the Champions League, though most of the quotes to that end came from his agent Emil Danchev, rather than the player himself.

Comments

Comments by lily_lane - 02:07 17 Jul 2008
	Indeed, the saga goes on....one wonders why Berbatov just doesn't submit a transfer request if he's so keen to leave Spurs? He always claims money is not an issue for him, in that case put in a transfer request and make your position clear rather than just speaking through your Agent to denigrate the club that gave you a chance in the EPL via the press. So you'll lose bonuses and your Agent will get less money on the deal, oh dear..... One also wonders why Berbatov didn't initially just sign for MU in 2006, as he was prepared to leave Spurs after just one season if they'd let him - hardly loyal or professional behaviour. How sad. He has greatly disappointed me as a big fan of his. :( Incidentally, it's not the case that Spurs need to sell to buy. The club has sufficient funds to keep all players and still make new signings. It is a very well run, financially sound club, unlike MU, Liverpool and Arsenal, who are all paying off large debts and loans, and ofcourse Chelsea, who without the Russian Billionaire would be bankrupt. Just a few facts for you that you won't find in the British articles you feature at regular intervals.