Man Utd icon reveals that he told Man City to ‘f*** off’ for five reasons in transfer snub
Former Man Utd striker Dimitar Berbatov claims he snubbed a transfer to arch-rivals Man City to sign for the Red Devils in 2008.
The Red Devils signed Berbatov from Premier League rivals Tottenham for £30.75m after the Bulgarian scored 46 times in 102 appearances in all competitions for Spurs.
During his four seasons at Man Utd, Berbatov scored 56 goals in 149 matches with the ex-Bayer Leverkusen star winning two Premier League titles and a League Cup, while he also lost two Champions League finals with the Red Devils.
After performing brilliantly at Tottenham, Berbatov revealed that he had “always dreamed of being able to climb my own mountain”.
Berbatov told the Daily Telegraph: “Tottenham was a great showcase and after a remarkable season, I started to attract interest from some of the best clubs in the world. I come from Bulgaria, a small country. In my mind, I had always dreamed of being able to climb my own mountain. The top was Manchester United.
“I knew that this train was only going to pass once in a lifetime and I didn’t want to let it pass. It was difficult to say goodbye to Tottenham, I was aware that I was going to disappoint a lot of people, but sometimes in life, you have to make decisions.”
Man Utd was always the top club he wanted to join and, when their newly-wealthy neighbours Man City attempted to sign him, he told them where to go.
Berbatov added; “They wanted to sign me on the last day of the market. I told my agent: ‘F*** off, we’re going to United’. Because of the history, the prestige, the players, the manager, the shirt. I never had any doubt that Old Trafford was the right decision.”
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Cristiano Ronaldo was a standout player during Berbatov’s time at Man Utd but the Bulgarian insists the Portugal international wasn’t too far ahead of the rest of the squad in ability.
Berbatov continued: “It’s easy to say Ronaldo, but in truth they were all examples. At Manchester United they were all captains in their position: Van der Sar, Ferdinand, Vidic, Neville, Giggs, Scholes, Rooney, Tevez… the moment we stepped on the pitch I could see the fear in the opponents’ eyes.
“They were big winners, with big egos. And that forced me to be mentally strong because the training sessions were very tough. In the small-sided games we all wanted to win. We fought, there were tackles, sometimes we argued. But it was all for the same goal: to win.”
On meeting legendary Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson for the first time, Berbatov said: “I was shocked because it can be intimidating and especially for me, stepping out of the plane and, bam, you see Sir Alex! I was like, what do I say, how do I address him, will I look stupid? I had all these questions in my head, but he was great.
“He took us to Carrington and the drive in the car was like science fiction. I didn’t even know what to say. It was a perfect day. Exhausting, but perfect, because I had worked so hard to get there.”
