Man Utd finally land Berbatov

2008-09-02 08:10

England - Manchester United signed Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham for £30.75m on Monday despite a late attempt by crosstown rivals Manchester City to hire the Bulgaria striker.

United left it until the last day of the summer transfer window to finally complete its move for a player it has coveted for a year.

The size of the transfer fee - the most ever paid by United and the most ever received by Tottenham - coupled with United's agreement to loan promising striker Fraizer Campbell to Spurs for a year persuaded the north London club to drop a complaint to the Premier League over the English champions' pursuit of Berbatov.

Spurs had not wanted to sell Berbatov to United because of the Red Devils' conduct, but the player closed the transfer at Old Trafford with United manager Alex Ferguson and chief executive David Gill.

Tottenham chairperson Daniel Levy said in July that United had been trying to buy Berbatov for more than a year in breach of Premier League rules.

Spurs had rejected an earlier bid from United and had been driving a hard bargain with the Red Devils after complaining to the Premier League in July about their "disgraceful" attempts to tempt away Berbatov.

Strike force

With the transfer window now closed, Berbatov was the only major addition to a squad that won last season's Champions League and Premier League.

Ferguson was desperate to bolster a strike force that has lacked a recognized centre forward since Ruud Van Nistelrooy was sold to Real Madrid in 2006.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored 42 goals last season but was out injured until October and, like Wayne Rooney, he roams freely about the field rather than occupying dangerous central positions. Carlos Tevez also drops deep frequently.

Berbatov, who joined Tottenham from Bayer Leverkusen in 2006 in a four-year deal, will wear the No. 9 shirt that was freed earlier on Monday when United sold Louis Saha to Everton.

Berbatov scored 23 goals in 52 appearances last season, including a penalty kick in Spurs' 2-1 win over Chelsea in the League Cup final.

He was omitted from the Spurs team this season by manager Juande Ramos while he held out for a transfer.

But the move to United was almost hijacked by City, hours after it had agreed to a takeover by a United Arab Emirates business group.

Sulaiman al-Fahim, who brokered the buyout for the Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment, said that there had been £25m bid.

- AP