Dimitar Berbatov: Time to bring the curtains down at Manchester United?

Ever since Dimitar Berbatov failed to impress during the 2009-10 season, he has been linked with a move away from Manchester United. Is it time he finally leaves?

Undoubtedly, Berbatov is a phenomenal player and in a quite brief spell with United, he’s had his fair share of up’s with them, especially last season. To name a few, he scored a mesmerizing hat-trick against Liverpool in a 3-2 victory for United. The second goal being a mesmerizing overhead kick that accurately kissed the top post before plopping in. He also netted 5 times in a single match against Blackburn Rovers, the first non-Englishman to do so in the Premier League and then went on to score two more hat-tricks in the same season, something we haven’t seen achieved by a United player since Ruud Van Nistelrooy famously did back in the 2002-03 season. On top of that, Berbatov finished as the league’s top scorer along with Carlos Tevez with a total of 20 goals. His current tally of goals at United sits at 47 goals in 129 appearances.

Berbatov has had his share of success with United

But unfortunately for Berbatov, things have not always been going right for him at Manchester United, such as the emergence of new signing Javier Hernandez, who accomplished more than what was expected of him in his first season for the club. His emergence led to Berbatov’s direct decline. So direct that Ferguson couldn’t even find space on the bench for the Bulgarian against Barcelona in the Champions League final. And now, with the emergence of Danny Welbeck, Mame Birame Diouf, Frederico Macheda , the signing of Ashley Young and the reward of a one year contract to Michael Owen, you get the weird feeling that Berbatov is being shown the exit door at Old Trafford. Personally, I think Berbatov is a fantastic player and he definitely deserves to play for United. He has got amazing posture and the manner in which he controls the ball is one that not many have in the league.

But sometimes he has himself to blame. There are a number of times you can spot Berbatov on the pitch idly sulking about as if he’s not paid to play. It appears as if he lacks a sense of enthusiasm most of the time. But to be fair to Berbatov, his calmness on the ball is so often confused for laziness and that is easily the last thing fans want to see in players. United could cope without the Bulgarian and I’m sure Sir Alex wouldn’t lose any sleep if Berbatov were to leave. Without a doubt, the Bulgarian is a proven goal scorer and he would be a huge asset to many of Europe’s top clubs and I think now is the perfect time for Berbs to pull the curtain on his Old Trafford career.