Alex Ferguson finally gets his man. Dimitar Berbatov signs for Manchester United
September 2, 2008
The final hours of the transfer window didn’t pass quietly as Manchester United didn’t quite pull of the deal of the season. United finally completed the signing of long time target Dimitar Berbatov and reports suggest the Bulgarian striker will take the shirt of outgoing Saha; number 9.
At little after half eleven on Monday 1st September, the club announced on manutd.com:
“Manchester United are delighted to announce the signing of Dimitar Berbatov. The Bulgarian international striker, 27, has signed a four-year contract after joining from Tottenham Hotspur for an undisclosed fee.”
Manchester United had previously refused to meet Tottenham’s £30 million valuation of the player with reports initially claiming United were only prepared to pay £25 million and later even up to £28 million. Spurs indicated £30 million or nothing so it was a case of who would crumble first. United ended up paying a reported £30.75 million; a real coup for the bargaining men at Old Trafford. Spurs also agreed to drop the complaint over United’s pursuit of Berbatov and to seal the deal, it looks like Fraizer Campbell is going on a season long loan to White Hart Lane.
United lost bargaining power when Manchester City entered the equation with a £30 million plus offer. There were even reports of Real Madrid making a “record breaking offer” but that never materialised. In a bizarre twist, Manchester City have a new owner, someone from the ruling family of Abu Dhabi no less; a man with more money than Abramovich. City unsuccessfully tried to hijack United’s move for Berbatov whilst also bidding £32.5 million for Real Madrid’s Robinho in an attempt to steal the forward from under the noses of Chelsea. Unfortunately for Chelsea, their bid was successful and Robinho will now be strutting his stuff at the City of Manchester Stadium this season. Unbelievable I know.
Fraizer Campbell’s loan spell in North London should prove a great opportunity for the 20 year old Striker. Tottenham had only Darren Bent and new boy Roman Pavlyuchenko up front before the arrival of Campbell so the youngster has plenty of opportunity to show what he can do.
Speaking to manutd.com, Dimitar Berbatov said “Joining Manchester United is a dream come true for me. I look forward to playing my part in helping this club win more honours in the years to come.”
Sir Alex Ferguson was delighted to have finally gotten his man and said: “This is a key signing. Dimitar is one of the best and most exciting strikers in world football. His style and ability will give the team a different dimension and I’m sure he will be a popular player with the fans.”
Dimitar Berbatov scored 46 goals in 102 appearances for Tottenham and fee aside, could prove to be vital in the team’s defence of both the Premier League and Champions League titles.
With the news that Cristiano Ronaldo is ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation it wont be long till United unleash a deadly strike force; Ronaldo, Rooney, Berbatov and Tevez. I see plenty of goals at Old Trafford this season.
More that may interest you
- Manchester City line up £136 million deal for Cristiano Ronaldo – Cha-ching!- Benzema sees future in Manchester
- £30 million or Berbatov rots in the reserves. In that case, let him rot!
- Levy at it again: more money for Berbatov please
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