It’s not over until the transfer window is closed - that’s how the Berbatov situation stays. The player’s agent Emil Dantchev is keen to hold the Spurs exit door open, no matter what the club officials are saying. The market will close on January 31, a day after the player celebrates his 27th birthday.
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levi has told Berbatov and his agent to forget about leaving White Hart Lane. Sporting director Daniel Comolli shares the same opinion, while head coach Juande Ramos is ready to sell two of his unwanted strikers in an attempt to keep Berbatov at the club. The Spaniard would prefer to offload Darren Bent, who has managed only two Barclays Premier League goals since his 16.5 million pound move from Charlton Athletic last summer. Jermain Defoe revealed that he had been told he could leave. Meanwhile Berbatov said that he is happy at Spurs. But Dantchev is not giving up the game he started on December 30 with a statement that Berbatov would be interested in a move to a “big club” that matched his ambitions.
The agent was in the UK in early January and had already confirmed his words. “We’ll wait until the last day of the transfer window. There are eight, maximum 10 clubs in Europe that fit to Dimitar. It’s not true what Tottenham are saying, that I promised Berbatov would stay at least till the summer of 2008,” Dantchev said at Sofia airport. Later he told Sky Sports: “The position I stressed is not my position, it is the position of the player. The people who have to know, they know this.
Berbatov wants to know his position directly at a press conference organised by his club, if they decide to do this. The one thing Berbatov needs is to live his life, and be able to do his job for his club.”
Asked if there had been any bids for the player, Dantchev replied: “That is a question to ask his club.” But his partner, Italian agent Roberto De Fanti revealed Manchester United was ready with a 44 million euro offer. Chelsea and Manchester City were monitoring the situation, while Arsenal and Liverpool were once thought to be interested but now are not in need of a new top-class striker. Milan and Inter have already sent representatives for talks with De Fanti. Bayern is the German team that could suit Berbatov and Barcelona and Real Madrid are the Spanish.
Berbatov himself has called for an end to speculation linking him with a move. “There is too much speculation around my name, but most of it is foolish. It’s absurd and I’m tired of seeing my name in the newspapers. I want to live in peace. It is getting too much. I am a Tottenham player and I’m trying to give my best, so I can help my team. I’m happy when we play well and I’m miserable when we lose our games. I’m happy at the moment. You can win titles and medals with every team and I can win with Tottenham too.”
Juande Ramos’ valuation of his striker means he would command more than Andriy Shevchenko’s deal from AC Milan to Chelsea, which was around the 30 million pound mark. Berbatov added: “I don’t think that I’m worth so much money. I just have to do my job and score goals. Juande Ramos is very good, both as a man and as a coach. He sees even the small details that remain hidden from most people.”
