Manchester United's move for Dimitar Berbatov edged
closer last night when it emerged that Tottenham have identified
Roque Santa Cruz as the man to replace their hit-man. United chief
executive David Gill returns from holiday today to take charge of
the champions' attempts to persuade Spurs to sell their Bulgaria
striker.
United have already had a £20million bid rejected but boss Sir
Alex Ferguson is determined to sign Berbatov, knowing the player is
desperate to complete his dream move to Old Trafford. Ferguson is
also aware that neighbours Manchester City had a bid of £32m for
Berbatov rejected in May.
However, the United manager is confident that, given the
striker's burning desire for a return to Champions League football,
an offer of around £25m will persuade Spurs to do business, with
the fee possibly rising to £30m with performance related add-ons.
Ferguson will now leave the haggling to Gill while he takes charge
of United's pre-season trip to South Africa on Wednesday.
Spurs are already preparing for the new season at a five-star
golf resort in south-east Spain. Berbatov could feature in a
training match against Tavernes today, with his final game for the
north London club possibly being against Hercules of Alicante next
week.
With Liverpool eager to sign £20m-rated Robbie Keane and manager
Juande Ramos ready to let Darren Bent leave for around £12m , Spurs
could have a completely new strikeforce next season, led by Santa
Cruz.
Ramos is believed to favour playing a lone striker with three
men in support and has made the Blackburn man his top priority as
the target man, although he may face competition from Arsenal. The
manager plans to make Luka Modric and Giovanni dos Santos two of
the three and wants Espanyol forward Luis Garcia or Blackburn's
David Bentley to complete the trio.