Berbatov : The new Cantona?
WITH all the controversy surrounding Cristiano
Ronaldo, it is already becoming one hell of a long pre-season for
Manchester United fans. He’s going. He’s staying. He’s injured.
He’s a slave. Blah, blah, blah.
But Red Devils fans fear not. Where there is hope, at
least there is Dimitar Berbatov. The moody Bulgarian is bang on
Alex Ferguson’s radar and I reckon he is the Eric Cantona clone the
United faithful have been praying for. The languid style. The look
of not being interested — before turning on the stunning skill. The
pure class.
Cantona had bucketloads of it and so does Berba. He’s
just got the vibe, if you know what I mean. There is a bit of
Dennis Bergkamp about him, too but the Cantona comparison is spot
on. People look at him and think he isn’t quick. But they are
wrong. He is deceptively fast and so technically gifted. He can do
fantastic things with the ball and scores some cracking goals —
just like Eric used to.
Left foot, right foot, close range or far out. The guy
has it all. To be honest, I am surprised there haven’t been more
clubs sniffing around. The Tottenham star is exactly the type of
player who would fit into Ferguson’s line-up without any fuss at
all. The United chief has a knack of getting guys in who easily
walk into the team.
And I can just see Berbatov strutting round Old
Trafford. Up front with Carlos Tevez? Playing just off Wayne
Rooney? Any way you look it, it’s one hell of a tasty proposition.
Berbatov is a great link player who will love the free-flowing
football United served up last season.
At times he resembles someone who looks like he would
rather be somewhere else. But with the lure of the Champions League
and fighting for the title, we may just see a smile on his
face.
Certainly being teed up by the likes of Paul Scholes,
Rooney and Ryan Giggs every week would make me smile. The quality
of service and the players around will make Berbatov a better
player and, perhaps, he will be happier within himself. That would
see a new, maybe more determined player.
Let’s remember what a brilliant couple of seasons he
has had at Spurs and think that this guy, 27, can still improve and
become even better. It’s an exciting prospect and Premier League
defences wouldn’t like it one bit.
Fergie? He would absolutely love it and perhaps take
some of the pain away from the Ronaldo situation and what has been
one of the worst transfer sagas in living memory. Everywhere you
look around this sorry mess it just stinks.
IAN WRIGHT - Columnist
