Dimitar Berbatov

Dimitar Ivanov Berbatov (born 30 January 1981) is a Bulgarian footballer who plays as a forward for Manchester United.Berbatov was born to Ivan and Margarita Berbatov, both themselves professional athletes: Ivan was a footballer with Pirin and CSKA Sofia, while Margarita was a handball player.His favoured team was the Italian club Milan, and he consequently modelled himself on Marco van Basten, the Dutch forward for that team. However, the 1996 European Championship, held in England, gave Berbatov a new role model; the 15-year-old Berbatov began to look up to the English front man Alan Shearer, who played for Newcastle United. Berbatov's mother later spoke of her son's teenage dream of playing for Newcastle United, and said that his admiration for Shearer was such that, during these years, he slept in a Newcastle shirt.Berbatov began his youth career with his home-town club, Pirin, where his talent was spotted and he scored 77 goals for their reserve team in 92 appearances. He made nine appearances and scored two goals in their first team.Berbatov joined his father's former club, CSKA Sofia, after being spotted by scout and manager Dimitar Penev in 1998. He made his début during the 1998–99 season, at the age of 18, and won the Bulgarian Cup with CSKA at the end of that season. Berbatov's first game in Europe came in September 1999, in a 2–0 defeat against his childhood team Newcastle United;it was during that season, 1999–2000, that he started to make his name, scoring 14 goals in 27 league matches.A run of nine goals in eleven games during the first half of the 2000–01 season was enough to persuade German club Bayer Leverkusen to pay €1.3 million to sign a four-year contract with Berbatov on 1 January 2001.Berbatov played for the club's reserve team in the Oberliga Nordrhein at first, and scored six goals in seven appearances before being promoted to the first team. He made his team début in a 4–3 pre-season friendly win against D.C. United, scoring a hat-trick.

He scored 16 goals in 24 league appearances during the 2003–04 season, before the following two seasons saw the Bulgarian raise awareness of his talent by netting 46 goals in the league over the two seasons and five times in the 2004–05 Champions League. During this time, he was linked with numerous foreign clubs, including Celtic, Atlético Madrid and Liverpool.Tottenham Hotspur reached an agreement with Bayer Leverkusen for Berbatov's transfer in May 2006; the fee of €16 million (£10.9 million) made him the most expensive Bulgarian footballer ever. After he was granted a British work permit, the transfer was completed on 1 July 2006.Berbatov's seven goals in eight European games during his début season for Tottenham helped the club to secure top spot during the UEFA Cup's group stage,making his second European debut in October 2006, scoring a goal during a 2–0 victory against Beşiktaş. He made a total of eight matches, scoring seven goals as Tottenham were eliminated 3–4 on aggregate against Sevilla.However, he took a while to adapt to the Premier League, taking a few months to regain the league form he had shown at Leverkusen. He gave a strong performance against Wigan Athletic in November 2006, scoring one and creating the other two in a 3–1 win for Spurs,and began to score regularly.His first cup final for Tottenham came on 24 February 2008 in the Football League Cup; Spurs faced Chelsea at Wembley Stadium. Berbatov scored an equalising penalty as Tottenham went on to win the game 2–1 after extra time.He ended the season with 15 league goals.Before the next season, 2008–09, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was quoted by newspapers as saying he expected to sign Berbatov; Tottenham submitted a complaint to the Premier League alleging that Manchester United had broken league rules. Ongoing rumours of a substantial bid by Ferguson's club unsettled him, and Berbatov was dropped for the games against Sunderland and Chelsea during August, the season's first month.Berbatov moved to Manchester United on 1 September 2008, costing the club £30.75 million and signing a four-year contract.Tottenham had also accepted a bid from Manchester City, but Berbatov claimed after signing for United that he "would not even have thought about Manchester City".Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, meanwhile, accused Tottenham of having used the complaint to the Premier League to negotiate a higher price for Berbatov from Manchester United.He scored his first hat-trick for United on 19 September, scoring all three of his team's goals in a 3–2 home win over rivals Liverpool; the second goal, an overhead kick, became a contender for the league's Goal of the Season. It was the first treble by a Manchester United player against Liverpool in 64 years. He made his 100th appearance for United on 10 November in a 0–0 away league draw in the Manchester derby on 11 November 2010. Sixteen days later, Berbatov tied a league record by scoring five goals in a game during a 7–1 home victory over Blackburn Rovers; he was the first non-Englishman to net five in a Premier League match, and joined Andrew Cole, Alan Shearer and Jermain Defoe as the only players overall to do so.He was named Bulgarian Footballer of the Year for a record seventh time on 20 December. In January 2011, Berbatov was named by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics as Europe's most popular footballer among active players for 2010.After being dropped to the bench for games against Arsenal and Marseille, Berbatov returned as a second half substitute for Javier Hernandez against Bolton Wanderers on 19 March and scored the winner in the 88th minute (his 20th goal of the season), giving United a 1–0 victory.Berbatov also shared the Premier League Golden Boot award with his former Manchester United teammate.On 29 May 2011, there was intense speculation about his future after he was left out of the Manchester United squad for the Champions League Final, in which United lost 3–1 to Barcelona.Berbatov is known for his footballing intelligence, technical ability and composure; in particular, his unhurried stance in front of goal has been described by The Scotsman's Tom Lappin as "elegant and calm". He also possesses exceptional precision when passing and shooting, and takes his time when on attack in order to ensure the best move possible. As such, he is often used as a deep-lying centre forward, receiving passes from the midfield, holding the ball up and then using his tactical acumen and well-honed skill to bring his team-mates into the game. His impressive physical stature combines with these attributes to form a strong all-round attacking player.It is because of these characteristics that was signed by Manchester United, who intended for Berbatov to complement the combative and busy style of their English striker Wayne Rooney. Whereas Rooney is known for exerting himself vigorously for the entirety of a match, Berbatov employs a more laid-back and composed style, and because of this is sometimes criticised by observers who interpret this as laziness.On signing for Manchester United, Berbatov attracted comparisons with former United forward Eric Cantona, not only because of his languid and impeccable touch, but also because of his bravado and perceived arrogance.Berbatov is, however, capable of adapting his style to play more directly when required; in April 2010, for example, with Rooney absent, Berbatov gave a performance against his former side Tottenham which, in James Ducker's words, was as if he had "decided to take it upon himself to impersonate the England striker". Combining uncharacteristic determination and effort with his regular technical skill, he contributed to the first Manchester United goal and helped United to a 3–1 victory.