3) Dimitar Berbatov – Manchester United
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When Manchester United spent £30.75m to sign Dimitar Berbatov, many people were on the fence. Was it too much? But Sir Alex Ferguson knew what he was getting – a striker at his peak. And, of course, Tottenham Hotspur always drove a hard bargain by employing every trick in the book to jack up the price.
Although he took his time to get going at United, the Bulgarian striker was a key figure in the 2010/11 league title triumph with 20 goals in 32 games. And his first hat-trick for the Red Devils came in arguably their biggest fixture of the season – against arch-rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford.
The two English giants met as early as September and Berbatov’s hat-trick in a pulsating game that saw Steven Gerrard equalise twice. But an 84th-minute winner saw United clinch three points and Berbatov’s second goal – an overhead kick he set up himself – was one of the Goals of the Season (unfortunately no match for Wayne Rooney’s winner in the Manchester Derby later that season).
Berbatov then scored five goals in a 7-1 walloping of Blackburn Rovers, thereby becoming the first non-English player to score five in a game. He then grabbed his third hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Birmingham City.
Although he won the Golden Boot (shared with teammate Carlos Tevez), his relationship with the manager took a turn for the worse when he was dropped for the 2011 Champions League final.
