Signing of the summer? Dimitar Berbatov says he is
excited about his future after joining Fulham
They are paying the striker £100,000 a week to join them from
Manchester United.
Boss Martin Jol has ended an eight-month chase to link up again
with the Bulgarian hitman he brought to England six years
ago.
But the Cottagers have had to dig deep to land their man at the
last minute and see off interest from Italian giants Juventus and
Fiorentina.
Berba’s £5m-a-year deal makes him easily the highest-paid player
in their history.
They failed only days ago to persuade Mousa Dembele to stay with
a contract worth £45,000 a week — and that would have made the
Belgian the club’s biggest earner.
Jol signed Berbatov, 31, when he was Spurs boss then successor
Juande Ramos sold him to United for £30.75m in 2008.
The capture of Berbatov is a big statement in the wake of
Dembele’s departure for Spurs this week.
Jol said: “Of course, you have to pay good players good
money.
“But I think we have made steps over the last few years and
there have been many clubs who were interested in
Dimitar.
“They all tried to get him but we were able and capable of
getting him. I tried to do something months ago and it didn’t come
off.
“Now, for him, it was the right moment to make a decision and he
made that decision for us.
“Our fans will be very happy and proud, because it’s probably
the biggest signing in the club’s history.
“Hopefully, he can score goals and we’ve other good players
around him.”
Berbatov has been out of favour at Old Trafford since last
season.
Yet in 2010-11 he still scored 22 goals, including
THREE hat-tricks.
Jol added: “He has a very good record.
“If you look at his record internationally and with Manchester
United, I don’t think there’s another striker — maybe Van Persie in
five years time — who could achieve that.
“So hopefully we can use those qualities to our advantage and be
a very good club in the future.
“I spoke to him last week and he felt good. Now he’s a bit
worried because he hasn’t played many games.
“But I think if everything is fine with his medical, he can be
involved straightaway.”