Dimitar Berbatov to leave Manchester United

Dimitar Berbatov has admitted with a heavy heart that the time is now right to leave Manchester United after five years of frustration.

The Bulgarian arrived for a hefty price tag of £30.75 million from Tottenham in 2008, but has never managed to live up to the Cantona-esque expectations which United fans placed on the talented forward.

His languid style led many to question his work-rate or his commitment to the cause, but at any moment he could produce a moment of genius to win a match on his own.

The five goal haul in the 7-1 victory over Blackburn and an overhead kick whilst scoring a hat-trick over Liverpool are among the few highlights of his Old Trafford stint.

It was in this 2010/11seasonwhen Berbatov finished as the joint top-scorer in the Premier League with 22 goals and many believed his United career had finally ignited.

But Ferguson inexplicably left the Bulgarian out of United’s Champions League final squad to face Barcelona, despite the striker’s fine form.   

 Berbatov’s enigmatic style has continuously troubled Ferguson as he tries to re-invent United as a fast, counter-attacking team, deploying Valencia and Young on the wings and Hernandez upfront.

Last season, he fell down the striking pecking order behind Rooney, Welbeck and Hernandez, scoring just nine goals in 21 appearances.

But he now flies with the rest of the United squad on the club’s first leg of the pre-season tour in South Africa along with new signings, Shinji Kagawa and Nick Powell while his future still remains unclear.

Berbatov clearly no longer has a future at United and is likely to be sold for a fee in the region of £5 million- an attractive proposition for most clubs who know the player still has a lot to offer at the top level.

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