It has emerged last morning that Turkish giants Galatasaray have registered a firm interest in Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov, who finds himself relegated to the bench at United at the present time.
Interest in the Barclay’s Premier League joint top scorer last season is not only coming from Turkey or Paris Saint Germain of France, but from all across Europe. After all, it is extremely difficult to argue against the fact that Dimitar Berbatov remains one of the most, or perhaps the most technically gifted player in the Barclay’s Premier League at this moment.
Dimitar Berbatov was brought to Old Trafford after a massive stand-off between the club and his former employers Tottenham Hotspurs in a transfer which was registered moments before the dadline came into effect. He commanded a fee of 30.75 million pounds – a Manchester United transfer record – and became a part of the Big 4 at United joining Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney.
Expectations were huge at United and the player returned a paltry 14 goals in his first season at the club. Although the man oozed class when he got on the ball, he was not very effective on the pitch. To his credit, the 30 year old Bulgarian had quite a few assists in that season but a striker at Manchester United is expected to score goals.
In his second season, he started like his first and ended it on the bench as Sir Alex was forced to change his formation with Wayne Rooney the focal point of the attack thanks to his woeful form. There were rumors of bids from AC Milan and Juventus that summer, but Sir Alex chose to keep his 30 million pound striker.
This was the time when the man chose a radical transformation. During the off season, Berbatov ran eight miles a day to be fit for the season and did weights for a couple of hours each day to increase his strength and build some more mass on his body. Sir Alex himself was amazed at the manner in which his Bulgarian striker worked out like never before and sensed that something special was coming.
The season turned out to be Berbatov’s best in a United shirt so far. He netted a hattrick against Liverpool at the Theater of Dreams followed by a fiver against Blackburn Rovers. But, as the season progressed, new Mexican forward Javier Hernandez forged a fantastic partnership up front with Wayne Rooney and ended his first season at United with 20 goals.
The Mexican has continued his form while Berbatov has again retreaded into a shell. Supporters don’t chant his name at the Stretford end anymore and it seems they have grown tired of Berba. Many complain that his play in the final third of the pitch does not suit a fast paced team like United and he unnecessarily slows down the speed of the game, which is detrimental to the results.
With the likes of Danny Welbeck, Kiko Macheda, and Mame Biram Diouf flourishing at the moment, Sir Alex will have a tough decision to make come January.