Berbatov | Fulham player

I suspect that Sir Alex would prefer Berbatov (and Owen) to stay at the club for at least one more year in order to both ensure that Hernandez hasn't just experienced an exceptional one-off season (highly unlikely, of course), but also to allow Welbeck and possibly Macheda (not to mention the other very good young strikers at the club) to experience a year within the first team squad without the pressure of having to immediately make the kind of contribution that would be expected of a mature first team player.

Of course, an offer of anywhere close to £20m complicates that scenario, and one thing that I haven't seen mentioned too often was Sir Alex's very poignant comment after the Manchester derby last season in relation to a question about why United were finding it so difficult to perform away from home. He specifically mentioned the partnership between Rooney and Berbatov:

"What we need to get out of Wayne and Dimitar Berbatov is performances like those away from home," Ferguson said.

"Up until now they've [Berbatov and Rooney have] been excellent at home, but they've not been as good away."
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Almost immediately after saying that Hernandez became Rooney's partner in attack for most of the rest of the season. Whatever the specifics that prompted that analysis -- at the very least, Hernandez's pace and ability to run in behind helps to stretch the game out and create space between the opposition defence and midfield for the second striker -- both the comments and the actions that followed are rather suggestive in what it says about Berbatov's long term future at the club.

As well as Berbatov played at Old Trafford last season -- although his distribution of goals reveals a somewhat less consistent performance than may first appear -- it's not ideal having a striker who not only performs differently at home as opposed to away from home, but far more importantly, one whose partnership with another player has been identified as a specific reason why the whole team failed to perform away from home. Most strikers are slightly more effective in familar surroundings, but that's not the same as such an important partnership being identified as having affected the form of the entire team.

For this reason, I suspect that anything close to a £20m offer given the circumstances of Berbatov's age and contract situation may persuade the manager to allow Berbatov to leave, despite the risks that I outlined in relation to Welbeck and Macheda. If Sir Alex has decided that the team needs a Hernadez-Rooney type of strike partnership away from home as it appears, that will almost certainly impact his thinking in terms of who to play at Old Trafford, as well (and as indeed happened last season).
 
Joga_Bonito said:
I suspect that Sir Alex would prefer Berbatov (and Owen) to stay at the club for at least one more year in order to both ensure that Hernandez hasn't just experienced an exceptional one-off season (highly unlikely, of course), but also to allow Welbeck and possibly Macheda (not to mention the other very good young strikers at the club) to experience a year within the first team squad without the pressure of having to immediately make the kind of contribution that would be expected of a mature first team player.

Of course, an offer of anywhere close to £20m complicates that scenario, and one thing that I haven't seen mentioned too often was Sir Alex's very poignant comment after the Manchester derby last season in relation to a question about why United were finding it so difficult to perform away from home. He specifically mentioned the partnership between Rooney and Berbatov:



Almost immediately after saying that Hernandez became Rooney's partner in attack for most of the rest of the season. Whatever the specifics that prompted that analysis -- at the very least, Hernandez's pace and ability to run in behind helps to stretch the game out and create space between the opposition defence and midfield for the second striker -- both the comments and the actions that followed are rather suggestive in what it says about Berbatov's long term future at the club.

As well as Berbatov played at Old Trafford last season -- although his distribution of goals reveals a somewhat less consistent performance than may first appear -- it's not ideal having a striker who not only performs differently at home as opposed to away from home, but far more importantly, one whose partnership with another player has been identified as a specific reason why the whole team failed to perform away from home. Most strikers are slightly more effective in familar surroundings, but that's not the same as such an important partnership being identified as having affected the form of the entire team.

For this reason, I suspect that anything close to a £20m offer given the circumstances of Berbatov's age and contract situation may persuade the manager to allow Berbatov to leave, despite the risks that I outlined in relation to Welbeck and Macheda. If Sir Alex has decided that the team needs a Hernadez-Rooney type of striker partnership away from home as it appears, that will almost certainly impact his thinking in terms of who to play at Old Trafford, as well (and as indeed happened last season).
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Very good post. (another one)
Might only add that Welbeck's performances so far in pre-season might make SAF worry a little less whether he's going to settle in right from the start.
We all know it's only pre season, but it's a good indication of how Welbeck's understanding with the others on the pitch is at the very moment.

I'm not saying we should sell Berbatov, personally I'd like him to stay, but if those reports are true (20 mill. are a lot of money for a player of his age) and considering how well Hernandez played last season and how well Welbeck has already done in pre-season, Fergie might think about selling him.
 
StanleyCupboard said:
Latest Twitter rumour (see the transfer forum) is that he's due to meet PSG within 48 hours. Wont be too sad if he goes. Extremely talented but at that age I'd take the money and run. And if it means more chances for Welbeck and Macheda, I'm all for it.
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bullshit.jpg
 
The way this comment is being "reported" in the media is embarrassing.
 
I don't actually want to see him go as he is a very talented player who on his day can do some outstanding stuff for us. But £20 million for him isn't that bad in all honesty, though think we can play around with PSG a bit more. Only question I have is if we sell him, would we be signing a replacement striker?
 
LARulz said:
Only question I have is if we sell him, would we be signing a replacement striker?
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Do we need to? We've got two excellent strikers in Rooney and Hernandez, and Welbeck looks like he can make the step up too. There's also Macheda who's still a big prospect. Also don't forget that if we sign Sneijder, I'd imagine we'd very rarely play more than one up front.
 
Chirag said:
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Telegraph report on this says:

"The Manchester United manager was asked whether the Bulgarian is close to joining the French outfit following a makeshift United XI's 8-2 defeat in a charity match against Marseille.

"Yes, he might. That's possible," he said in an interview on French TV."

That's a pretty outrageous interpretation. Even the bit they put explicitly in quotes is wrong!
 
It is simply lying through their teeth. And they are far from the only ones.
 
It's an interesting one. I think our strike force as it was last season was spot on for the coming one. A striker at the peak of his powers, a young one who has turned a star, an experienced and strong performer with a good attitude and a proven goalscorer satisfied with at being 4th choice. But as simple as it sounds to not fix what isn't broken we do have to take care of the future as much as our present. And that means doing what's best for the club even if it sacrifices a little on the present.

If fergie deems one of the youngsters good enough to be have a big chance of being a crucial cog in the united team for years to come and feels he needs chances here and now I have no problem with berbatov or Owen being sacrificed for the cause. But that completely depends on how badly fergie thinks that player needs to start playing a role at united already.

And if you're talking about 20 million pounds for berbatov then its a pretty great deal tp be fair. As it is with the sale of any important player fergie has to look at whether that quality can be made up from other areas in the squad. Again that's again a matter of his assessment of the youngsters.
 
Lance Uppercut said:
The way this comment is being "reported" in the media is embarrassing.
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It is, but good transfer news is in short supply at the moment and the media are desperate.

Probably why Fergie did a runner last night when she started asking about players. He knew that the best thing was to get away as quickly as possible, rather than ask her to repeat the question.
 
it does make me wonder why we havent released a statement saying how fergie misunderstood the question etc..
 
RedKaos said:
Do we need to? We've got two excellent strikers in Rooney and Hernandez, and Welbeck looks like he can make the step up too. There's also Macheda who's still a big prospect. Also don't forget that if we sign Sneijder, I'd imagine we'd very rarely play more than one up front.
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I personally don't think we need for the reason you said above, and on top of that we have Owen. I think the only issue people will raise (if we don't sign someone) is that we will be putting a lot of faith in our 'fringe' strikers and not have a 'world class' striker to come off the bench.

Like I said, I don't think we need another striker and would be more than happy to push the youngsters through instead but the only slight worry I'll have (should this happen) is if we are losing with 10 minutes or so to go we won't be able to pull someone like him off the bench. Its a small worry which will I'm sure be proven wrong but its a fair worry.

If we do sell him for £20 million + and sign a midfielder I'm sure a lot of people would be more than happy.
 
You wouldn't release a statement for something like that.
 
Of course we will sell him if Paris offer around £20m, why wouldn't we? It makes perfect sense financially, he hasn't been that important to us in the late stages of last season and we already have two young strikers who could take his role.

If he doesn't want to move then he won't but I can easily see him taking a chance, he will probably keep his wages in Paris, live in a beautiful city and play in a quite good team that's probably going to dominate French league for a few years. Also, he will probably be able to play longer in France than he could in England due to slower pace of the game and lower quality level.
 
Sarni said:
Of course we will sell him if Paris offer around £20m, why wouldn't we? It makes perfect sense financially, he hasn't been that important to us in the late stages of last season and we already have two young strikers who could take his role.

If he doesn't want to move then he won't but I can easily see him taking a chance, he will probably keep his wages in Paris, live in a beautiful city and play in a quite good team that's probably going to dominate French league for a few years. Also, he will probably be able to play longer in France than he could in England due to slower pace of the game and lower quality level.
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Berba not have a say in all this then?
 
You can't turn down £20,000,000 for a player his age really. Not that I believe it's going to happen but I'd accept that fee.
 
AdZzUtd said:
You can't turn down £20,000,000 for a player his age really. Not that I believe it's going to happen but I'd accept that fee.
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Me too, not that Berbatov isn't talented, but he has never really looked like becoming the player we hoped he would be. We and he, should just face the fact not all moves work out and imo this was one that never quite worked.

I would sell him for £15m no problem and put the money towards Banega or De Rossi, even Parker at a pinch.

We would benefit much more from signing a ball winner, than keeping a 3rd or 4th choice striker. Furthermore, Welbeck now deserves his chance, his performances, attitude and workrate have been fantastic for a while now whoever he has played for, and he certainly brings more versatility and energy to the table than Berba.

I am not a Berba hater before anybody starts, it is a simple question of whether we keep a 30yr old, 3rd or 4th choice striker, on £100g a week, and who will be able to leave on a free next year, or do we cash in now and give a well earned chance to an equally deserving youngster and spend the cash on other areas of the pitch which would serve us better over the coming season.

For me it's fairly obvious what the decision should be.
 
Opta Sports
4 - Wayne Rooney & Dimitar Berbatov are the only players to score more than 3 PL hat-tricks over the past 5 seasons (4 each). Lethal.
 
Red Defence said:
So that means we won't sell him then....if his and his agent's comments are anything to go by.
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Players have changed mind before, it's very rare that a team accepts a high bid for their player and he turns down the move. I can only think of a few examples from the past.
 
Sarni said:
Players have changed mind before, it's very rare that a team accepts a high bid for their player and he turns down the move. I can only think of a few examples from the past.
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If I remember well Yorke refused to sign with West Ham (which ended up ruining our chances of signing Di Canio in the January sales). That didn't ended well.
 
SharkyMcShark said:
I'd much rather have Berbatov in the side than Scott bloody Parker.
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Where, in centre midfield? :confused:

I noted how you conveniently ignore my first 2 choices simply so you could poke fun at the last resort option. If you don't think we need a ball winner fair enough but i am fairly certain i am not on my own with that view.

Berbatov is behind Rooney and Hernandez, while both Welbeck and Owen have had public backing from SAF and claims they will both be given more game time this season, so where does that leave Berba? Potentially 5th choice in my book.

I already stated i believe Welbeck has earned his chance this season and so £20m for a 30 yr old with a year left on hs contract seems to be a pretty wise move to me. Considering we could invest the extra money in buying a DM with more determination than Carrick as well as picking up Sneijder.

Surely you can see the benefit of that scenario, as opposed to having a striker deemed surplus to requirements warming the bench for the next 12 months.
 
Berbatov agent: "Berba will definitely stay, he’s happy at United & the club wants him to stay. That's all anyone needs to know."
 
wr8_utd said:
Berbatov agent: "Berba will definitely stay, he’s happy at United & the club wants him to stay. That's all anyone needs to know."
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Thats the only news I want to hear on this subject :p
 
The Berb's agent has said similar things numerous times in recent months; the club, not so much...
 
I see it this way: If Berbatov stays with us, I don't think his signing will be considered a success unless he comes up with a minor miracle. If we sold him now for £18 million or so, then I'd call that a good bit if business. Especially when it looks like our youngsters are ready to step up.
 
There is no developments at the moment other than the speculation by papers.

If Berba stays excellent, if he goes for £20m then it's a good deal.

SAF will do whats best.
 
SteveJ said:
The Berb's agent has said similar things numerous times in recent months; the club, not so much...
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Page 43 of this thread:

David Gill has today played down any suggestion that Manchester United are prepared to sell Dimitar Berbatov. Despite both Berbatov and his agent repeatedly claiming he has no interest in leaving United, he has been linked with moves to Italy.

With just one year remaining on his current deal, there was the belief that Berba had to agree a new contract this summer, or leave on a free next year. Gill has today talked about a clause in Berba’s contract which means this isn’t necessarily the case.

“There is an option to extend Dimitar’s contract by another year, on the club’s side,” said Gill. “We can do it whenever we want to do it and there are no conditions around it. Everyone has been talking about Berbatov from the outside, saying he wants to leave or that we want want him to leave, but we don’t want him to go. We want him to stay. He scored over 20 goals last season, so there is no desire on our behalf to see him go.

From our perspective he has, effectively, two years to go. We have until the end of the season [to extend his contract], so we can assess how it goes, talk to him, see how he performs and see what happens. I’ve not had one conversation with Dimitar [about his future]. There has been no correspondence in that respect.

The decision Alex took [leaving Berbatov out of the Champions League final] was a decision he took for that particular game. It wasn’t a decision taken with a view that we want Dimitar to go, because we don’t.”
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I can't believe any of this was taken seriously, maybe I missed bits out, but it seemed to be some ridiculous amount of speculation, based on not much to nothing.
 
But where did common sense go?
 
Me neither, who gives a feck about 20 million. I want more of what we saw last season.
 
Lance Uppercut said:
Page 43 of this thread:
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To be fair, Lance, that's only one occasion. :D

Anyway, I don't want DB to go; I just think the club have an ambivalent view on whether he stays or is sold.
 
Hectic said:
Me neither, who gives a feck about 20 million. I want more of what we saw last season.
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I'm a Berbatov fan as much as anyone but I still feel he has yet to contribute like we know he should. His goals are a great counter argument but he rarely performed well enough to silence the wingers. As Joga said above, we only looked threatening when Hernandez was leading the line and stretching defenses. His lack of penentration saw our already weak (by our standards) midfield having to deal with more pressure than we should have and that was a major part of our poor away form.
 
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