Manchester United now wants to sign Barcelona’s French striker Thierry Henry ahead of Tottenham’s Bulgarian forward, Dimitar Berbatov, telegraph.co.uk said.

Tottenham’s insistence on a British-record transfer fee of £38 million for Berbatov “has led Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson to switch his attentions to Barcelona's Thierry Henry,” the newspaper said.

Berbatov remained Ferguson’s most desired transfer, but the Manchester United manager had already drawn up a list of alternatives in case Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy “continues to play hardball over the Bulgaria international, with Henry certainly the most left-field of those.”

Allegedly, Ferguson’s short-list also included Blackburn Rovers front man Roque Santa Cruz and Ajax striker Klaus Jan Huntelaar. 

Ferguson has made great play of the alternatives, perhaps hoping to make Levy ponder the consequences of not dealing with him over the Bulgarian.

Now Levy should decide whether to keep the unmotivated Berbatov or try to do a deal with a less-than-fully interested Barcelona. Still, Berbatov is more likely to remain in the Premiership than to go abroad.
 
“Henry, Cruz or Berbatov would all be acceptable alternatives, but what would impress Ferguson is the Bulgarian's fitness record, something that undermined Cruz's progress at Bayern Munich and has cast a shadow over Henry's career in recent years,” telegraph.co.uk said.

Meanwhile, Tottenham has entered talks with Zenit St Petersburg over Andrei Arshavin. Arshavin’s agent Dennis Lachter had confirmed the information, telegraph.co.uk said.

Robbie Keane’s move to Liverpool and confident predictions that Dimitar Berbatov will also leave the team forced Tottenham to look for a new striker. But just like in the Tottenham-Manchester United talks over Berbatov, there is a significant difference between what Zenit are asking for Arshavin, and what Spurs are offering.