Sir Alex Ferguson has cast doubt over the future of Dimitar Berbatov at Manchester United after appearing to suggest that the Bulgarian could leave the club.
Ferguson made the admission after his reserve side's 8-2 defeat in a charity match against Marseille in Monaco on Tuesday evening. A French television journalist asked the United manager if Berbatov could play with Paris St-Germain, who are interested in signing the striker. "Yes," a smiling Ferguson replied. "Absolutely, no problem."
The French club are reportedly willing to pay £18-£20m, which would help United to recoup some of the £50m they have spent so far this summer on Ashley Young, David de Gea and Phil Jones.
Berbatov was United's top scorer last season and, alongside Carlos Tevez, the joint winner of the Premier League's golden boot, but Ferguson appears to have lost trust in the Bulgarian's ability to influence the more important matches. The club-record £30.75m signing from Tottenham Hotspur was not even on the substitutes' bench for the Champions League final against Barcelona in May, a decision that devastated him to the point he did not even leave the Wembley dressing rooms.
Nonetheless, Ferguson's statement represents a considerable change of direction for the champions, who have maintained all summer that Berbatov is not for sale and can still play a significant part in their attempt to win a 20th league title next season.
David Gill, the United chief executive, said at the weekend that the club had never considered moving on the Bulgarian. "Everyone has been talking about Berbatov from the outside, saying he wants to leave or that we want him to leave, but we don't want him to go. We want him to stay. He scored 20 goals last season, so there is no desire on our behalf to see him go."
Gill also said nothing sinister was to be drawn from the fact Berbatov was the only player at the club in the final year of his contract not yet to be offered an extension. "People keep telling me he's in the final year of his contract but there is an option on the club's side to extend Dimitar's contract by another year. We can do it whenever we want, there are no conditions around it and that means, in effect, he has two years to go."
It also makes Berbatov more valuable in the market if PSG, who have a £37.7m deal in place for Palermo's Javier Pastore that would smash the French transfer record, are serious about adding him to their new-look side.
Ferguson also attempted to brush off the latest speculation about Wesley Sneijder, saying it was "just all the newspapers" when he was asked about the possibility of signing the Holland international from Internazionale.
United have been trying to play down the matter for weeks, repeatedly informing reporters they are not interested in the player, but a deal is actually in place providing Sneijder agrees to lower his financial requirements.
Ferguson was quoted in one Sunday newspaper saying: "If he [Sneijder] wants to come, he must accept our contract offer. If not, we have other options in mind. We're done talking." The United manager has since denied saying such a thing but this is, in fact, the accurate and latest position.
No comments:
Post a Comment