The Spurs chairman is still bitter over the protracted and
somewhat embarrassing saga that surrounded the Bulgarian striker's
move to Manchester United at the beginning of the season. His anger
was deepened by the player's refusal to play in two league matches
for Spurs, against Sunderland and Chelsea.
"We had a player who had refused to play two games for us,
having a detrimental affect on the dressing-room," said Levy. "We'd
known for a year that the player had wanted out of this club."
He also revealed that Berbatov had wanted a move to
Manchester United only a year after arrived from Bundesliga outfit
Bayer Leverkusen.
"We were very disappointed," the chairman said.
"Dimitar Berbatov was a player who we brought to this club at a
time when Man Utd were interested in him. He made a conscious
decision to come to this club, we invested a lot of money, nobody
had ever heard of Dimitar Berbatov when we bought him.
"A year later with 10 days to go to the end of the window he
tells us he wants to leave to go to Manchester United."
Levy feels that Berbatov's conduct both then and a year later
when he eventually moved for £30 million amounts to serious
disrespect.
"I don't think he treated this club with the respect that we
honestly deserved," Levy added.
"We put him on the map, I think he's an outstanding player, but
he signed a long-term contract with this club and I think he should
have stayed.
"I had so many conversations with him. He kept saying it was
about his ambition to play for Manchester United. It wasn't a money
issue. We offered him a new contract and he wasn't even interested
in discussing it."
It remains to be seen whether new boss Harry Redknapp can curb
such excesses of 'player power'.