Manchester United have agreed to pay Tottenham a
club-record £28million for Dimitar
Berbatov - but may have to wait a few weeks before completing the
deal.
Sir Alex Ferguson finally made his move for the Bulgarian
striker over the weekend.
An initial bid of £20m was rejected and it was then reported
that United would make a £25m take-it-or-leave it offer.
However, the two clubs have now come to an agreement after
chairman Daniel Levy insisted the champions pay closer to £30m.
Publicly, Spurs are still insisting the striker isn’t for sale
but head coach Juande Ramos has been planning for next season
without him for some time.
The 27-year-old has made it clear he wants to leave and while he
preferred a move to Barcelona or Real Madrid because of the
lifestyle in Spain, United are the only club to have followed up
their interest with a solid bid.
Tottenham had put a new contract in place in case no offer was
forthcoming, but the player showed little interest in signing
it.
Reports in the London Evening Standard suggest Spurs will still
not let him leave for Old Trafford until they find a replacement
and the club have joined Arsenal and Chelsea in the hunt for Zenit
St Petersburg’s Euro 2008 Russian star Andrei Arshavin.
Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz is also a target, although
Tottenham are already having difficulty negotiating with Blackburn
over England winger David Bentley.
The Lancashire club want £18m for the former Arsenal star who is
keen to return to London and is a Spurs fan.
Tottenham may also use the funds from the Berbatov sale to make
another move for Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o, although he has
already made it clear he isn’t interested in coming to White Hart
Lane.
But while Berbatov will go to United, they won’t allow assistant
manager Gus Poyet to follow him.
The Uruguayan is on Ferguson’s wish list to replace Carlos
Queiroz, but Spurs are determined to keep him and he is happy at
the club.
