Berbatov : What next for the Bulgarian hitman?

Ever since the Wembley Beating Barcelona gave United , which in itself was a figurehead on why Barcelona ARE the team to beat in Europe right now , it also had a very sinister yet subtle sub plot to it. The man with the Golden boot and the premier League’s top scorer – Dimitar Berbatov didn’t even get a slot on the bench. The Reason?? Apparently Fergie wanted an Individual who could nick it late on (Why Owen didn’t come on then is a question in itself) and win the magical “Fourth” for them. This has left a sour taste in Berbatov’s mouth and it leaves us to think what the future holds for the Number 9?

Dimitar Berbatov celebrating after scoring a goal.

The question for Dimitar Berbatov is what happens next and, trying to break down that brick wall he builds around himself. Whether there is any appetite remaining to try to scorch the sense that this felt like the final act of his time as a Manchester United player or should he embark on a new Journey on greener pastures and show Fergie why he won the Golden boot in the first place?

It is not an easy thing to explain how a man who was presented with the golden boot award for finishing alongside Carlos Tevez as the Premier League’s most prolific scorer cannot even warrant a place among the substitutes for one of the most cherished nights of all. – Daniel Taylor

Having given Owen an extension for the year and with the likes of Macheda or a Welbeck coming back (Mind you , super hungry for success ) , It just leaves you to think what next for Bulgaria’s most successful football player? Having said that he gave fans and neutrals alike three eccentric years which have left us all in knots about whether to be bewitched or bewildered by what he does on a football field. Personally? I’d say if you’d want a magician waving his wand and bewitching the enemy so to say , Berba would be a handy little fox , sly and deceptive with an almost trivial expression to go along with it. Just when you think he’d be under control , he’d spring up with a “magic” flick or touch and set up or finish a divine goal.

We can only guess where he watched the match – or if, indeed, he did. Berbatov was in the dressing room at half-time and, again, after the match, and the suggestion is he watched it on television. He certainly did not take his seat in the stand and, by the time the ordeal was almost done and the players were milling about on the pitch, waiting for their coronation as losers, he was still nowhere to be seen as the other squad members walked out on to the grass, trying to find the right words for their team-mates. His motives are not clear, whether this was his way of registering disgust or if it was simply a case of wanting to be alone with his thoughts. Perhaps it was a bit of both. Whatever his thinking, by not being there (and he was not at the club’s post-match function either) he simply made himself even more conspicuous.

A return to White Hart Lane could be on the cards.

Part of the issue is that Berbatov has always seemed prone to insecurity and punishing self-analysis even in those periods when he is in the team. Does he have the mental fortitude to come back from an experience so crushing? Or does he reluctantly concede it is now blindingly obvious he is not seen as the player for these occasions?

With just a year left on his contract and negotiations still seeming a far cry , where could Berba be onto? Instantly, he has been linked with a return to White Hart Lane, a place that not so long ago he was desperate to get away from, so even if Spurs were interested and were willing to meet United`s asking price, would the player welcome returning to Tottenham a place where he was hugely successful, but perhaps in now a place he feels he can never return, nor may he want to. With Fergie being a keen admirer of Modric , it could very well out to be a swap deal involving some more cash heading to the Lane. But would Spurs want a player back who they let go for being sulky at the flag end of his Spurs career or allowing their player of the season in swap deal to United? Most importantly , would Berba want to give it a shot again with the club he still respects so much along with Leverkusen for making him the player he is now?

As a Spurs supporter , I’d love him back on and if he stays on , in England , then White Hart Lane’s the place to be for him (not being biased or anything). I think the 4-4-1-1 with VDV behind him and their supposed knack of creating something brilliant and beautiful could yet put Spurs back onto the cathedral of Europe and usher a new era again. Having been linked with a move to Newcastle or maybe Juventus too , the options are opening up thick and fast.

Knowing the player he is , he’d want to stay on , fight for his place and most importantly , stay humble as ever. Having reassured that time and again that he’d want to finish his contract up and that Old Trafford is the place to be , could Fergie finally put an end to his ordeal and send him packing almost unceremoniously for what has been an up and down ride at United. The Paradox being this has been the most productive of Berbatov’s three seasons in Manchester, with 20 league goals compared with 12 and nine in the previous two years. He is the first United player to score a hat-trick against Liverpool since 1946 and the first to manage three in a single season since Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2002-03.

Berbatov has fiddled with our minds, enthralled us, disappointed us,exhilarated and exasperated but in the years to come it may be that the game for which he is always remembered came on a Saturday night in London when he never even had to lace his boots. Ironically though , you might as well see him in London back again , gearing up for another season , in a much different backdrop. Whatever it turns out to be , We’ll all just hope he remains a premier league player at the end of the day.

It is normal for people to come up stories after not seeing me in the stands. It is normal to think that I was not the stadium. The truth is that I was in the locker room watching the game on TV. I was just disappointed and I was ashamed that I was not in the team. So I did not want people to see me how I was and how sad I was, because I hide my emotions. So I preferred to stay alone and watch the match from the dressing room. It was his personal decision. I was really disappointed and it hurt a lot. But I could not do anything. Sorry that Bulgaria could not see me in the finals, sorry that Bulgaria couldn’t be happy, or cry with me. Everyone now wonders why the team didn’t do well or why Berbatov was not in the squad, but I already told you why, it is the decision of the coach. – Berbatov in an Interview to “24 Chasa” in Bulgaria.