Berbatov?

By Chris O'Brien
January 7 2008

Manchester City are rumoured to have joined the chase for Dimitar Berbatov. The Bulgarian star has been the subject of intense speculation in recent weeks with United and Chelsea both said to be in the frame. It's all getting well OTT and Spurs' £32million price tag will surely price everybody out of the market.

Manchester City are rumoured to have joined the chase for Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov.

However, the Citizens would have to splash out a reported £32million if they want to snap up the Bulgarian frontman. Juande Ramos is keen to hold onto the player and has marked up Berbatov with a massive price tag. Any club looking to sign the star would have to break the British transfer record - currently held by Rio Ferdinand - if they wanted to prise the prolific former Bayer Leverkusen man away from North London.

The press have said that City are willing to make Berbatov their highest-paid player ever by offering him an incredible £120,000-per-week deal.

Papers have linked a host of clubs with the forward in recent weeks. United and Chelsea were rumoured to be leading the chase for Berbatov despite Sir Alex Ferguson claiming that he has no intention of signing anybody during the January transfer window.

"I think the squad is good enough," said Ferguson before the transfer window re-opened.

"We don't always get great joy in January, I have to say. It takes time for players to settle in when they are midway through the season - look at what happened with Evra and Vidic when they arrived - so we are conscious of that. Maybe we are short of cover in the left-back area now Gabriel Heinze has left but other than that, we are okay."

However, there's no smoke without fire and the media have been relentless in linking Berbatov away from Spurs. The speculation, fuelled by comments from the player's agent, is driving the Tottenham star demented who says he just wants to get on with resurrecting Spurs' disappointing Premier League campaign.

"There are too many speculations around my name, but most of them are foolish. It's absurd and I'm tired of seeing my name in the newspapers. I want to live in peace. It is getting too much," he told Bulgarian television.

The rumours all seem to be very over the top. United will surely not splash out £32million on a player who is now cup-tied in Europe and in the F.A Cup. His price tag is surely out of Manchester City's league and Chelsea are apparently looking for much cheaper attacking talent including Nicholas Anelka. Still, these latest rumours show that the press intend to get plenty more mileage out of Berbatov's future.