Dimitar Berbatov’s shockingly bad penalty kick against Everton in the FA Cup semi-final, which capped his less-than-stellar 30-minute display as a substitute, appears to have reignited the debate about whether the Bulgarian had any place in Manchester United’s squad, never mind the starting line-up.

Berbatov was supposed to take United to another level, adding to the impressive array of offensive talent at Old Trafford and settling any argument about Alex Ferguson being the most successful British manager ever by helping the Red Devils win another European champions title. Having spent two seasons at Tottenham, during which he scored 46 goals in all competitions, Berbatov would not need any time to get used to the English game, the argument went.

While the prospect of a league and Champions League double remains on track with less than five weeks to go in the season, the Bulgarian has already been firmly pegged by a growing number of United supporters as one of Ferguson’s biggest transfer flops. His ability never doubted, Berbatov has nevertheless been likened to Juan Sebastian Veron – another player of great skill who never really fit in.

Berbatov’s apologists say that 13 goals in 36 games and 12 assists hardly mark him as a failure, but only four of those goals were decisive in earning United a win. Worse yet, he has found the net only once in five matches against the other three members of England’s Big Four, compared to three in nine at Tottenham last year. That has given rise to the accusation that the Bulgarian went missing on the big stage and appeared generally not to care either way when on the pitch.

More than one pundit had predicted at the start of the season that Berbatov’s addition would disrupt the workings of United’s well-oiled goal machine from last year, but few would have expected that so close to the end of the season Ferguson would be forced to defend his most expensive acquisition.

"He came on and actually did quite well," Ferguson said in the aftermath of the Everton loss. "He did really well. He is disappointed to miss a penalty, of course, and he will get criticised for that. When you pay 30 million pounds for a player, then everyone thinks he should be able to score a penalty. But it’s not just about that."

Berbatov’s detractors would agree, pointing out that goals and winning games despite adversity would certainly have to be part of the package.