Manchester United last night appeared to have secured
the purchase of Dimitar Berbatov for Spurs' full £30m asking price
plus agreeing to Frazier Campbell going on loan for a year to White
Hart Lane, although United were run perilously close by Manchester
City.
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Earlier in the day, their newly enriched local rivals offered
£34m for Berbatov, a sum accepted by Tottenham who gave permission
for City to talk to the Bulgarian. The City manager, Mark Hughes,
said that it was then "really about the boy making a decision",
which Berbatov promptly did. He ignored City's attempts to contact
him and travelled to United's training ground and on to the
Bridgewater Hospital in Manchester for a medical.
Those close to the deal said that they were surprised at the
risk United took in dealing with the player direct before they had
a deal in place with Spurs. Sky Sports News cameras shot pictures
of the player in an office shaking hands with the United manager,
Sir Alex Ferguson. Spurs got their £30m fee and had the option to
sign Campbell on loan. But they failed to sign Diego Milito or
Sergio Garcia from Real Zaragoza. Milito has agreed to join
Genoa.
Campbell is not the ideal solution for Tottenham, who had told
Berbatov all along that he would be allowed to leave only if the
club could sign three strikers. They confirmed the signing of
striker Roman Pavlyuchenko and defender Verlan Corluka, but the
striking options left to their manager, Juande Ramos, are now far
from ideal.
Berbatov's will be the highest-value deal United have struck.
Rio Ferdinand's move from Leeds in 2002 cost around £31m.
