Manchester United was ready to pull out of any deal for the 27-year-old Bulgarian striker of Tottenham, Dimitar Berbatov, after Tottenham reportedly demanded UK£38 million for the Bulgarian, manchestereveningnews.co.uk said.

United’s initial £20 million bid was rejected by Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, who accused United’s manager Alex Ferguson of being “arrogant” and reported United to the Premier League, the newspaper wrote.

According to telegraph.co.uk, information leak from United about the club being ready to abandon its attempts to attract the Berbatov might cause concerns, but bluff and counter-bluff should be expected in Manchester United’s pursuit of Berbatov, as one of the “great loves” of United’s manager Ferguson was gambling “and Tottenham are sponsored by a betting company”.

Ferguson was calm about the transfer window being open for another month and Berbatov being desperate to move to United. That was why Ferguson made clear that he had other options, like Blackburn’s Roque Santa Cruz, making Levy ponder the consequences of not dealing with him.

“Relations between the two men are glacial but Levy is a businessman and if United do pull out, he can either keep an unmotivated player at White Hart Lane or try to do a deal with a less-than-fully interested Barcelona,” telegraph.co.uk wrote.

On the other hand, given that Louis Saha was to leave for Monaco or Paris Saint-Germain, Ferguson needed an out-and-out centre to complete his scheme with Wayne Rooney through the middle, playing off the shoulder of a striker.

“Cruz or Berbatov would both be acceptable alternatives but what would impress Ferguson is the Bulgarian’s fitness record, something that undermined Cruz’s progress at Bayern Munich,” the newspaper said.