With a week left of the transfer window chairman Daniel Levy has toughened the club's stance over Dimitar Berbatov. Having grown increasing angry at the players unprofessional attitude and behind the scenes manoeuvring for a move to Manchester United, Levy has declared that only a bid of £30m will see the Bulgarian move to the Premiership champions. If Berbatov sulks and refuses to play, then he can rot in the reserves.
Although the statement is as much to do with saving face as it is of fending off interest in the club's star player, Levy is right to take such a risky yet uncompromising stance. It would appear that he is genuine in his determination to retain Berbatov's services or at the very least receive a massive fee from United.
From the moment Sir Alex Ferguson's interest became public knowledge United had dithered in meeting Levy's asking price. When the chairman thought a host of club's were interested, including AC Milan and Barcelona, that fee was as much as £32m but the figure of £30m reflects his frustration and anger in United belief that they can bully the price down.
To that end, United would have been delighted with the events over the weekend. With Berbatov omitted from the squad because he was not in the right frame of mind to play, Ferguson had cause to believe that Levy would cut his losses and sell for a cheaper price in order to end the long-running debacle.
|
Instead, Levy has become all the more determined to rid Tottenham of its "selling club" label and is perfectly within his rights to demand whatever fee he chooses for a player who is under contract at the club.
Ferguson may well have his former student Roy Keane to thank for stiffening Levy's upper lip. The Sunderland manager said that he was taught - probably by Ferguson himself - that "no is a sentence". He will also do well to remember his own threat to subject Christiano Ronaldo to the ignominy of reserve team football if he were to continue to agitate for a move to Real Madrid.
It is unlikely United will match Levy's new asking price, which will pose him two new problems. Firstly, if Berbatov goes on strike or continues to sulk, will Levy and Ramos have the resolve to leave him languishing in the reserves for an entire season and secondly, does the club have the funds available without the Bulgarian's sale to finance the Manager's desire for several new faces before the end of the window. In particular, will the club be able to afford to buy a top-class new striker?
The first quandary will be resolved by Berbatov's professionalism, or lack of it. If like Ronaldo he realises he will have to wait for his 'dream' move, then there is a chance he can refocus and become a valuable member of the squad again. Yet the Portuguese, by all accounts, has a level headed and realistic Agent behind him. Berbatov has the money hungry agitator Emil Dantchev.
If instead Berbatov kicks up a fuss, Levy will have to force the player to rot in the reserves or face an embarrassing about turn. The added issue is that with every week spent out of the first team Berbatov's value will decrease. Does Levy really have the strength of will to see a £25m+ player slowly dissolve into a bitter forward worth £10m or less? Can the club afford to see this happen, just to make a point?
You'd like to think that, when push comes to shove, a footballer just wants to play football. Surely Berbatov, who has always come across as an intelligent man, can see the club are well within it's right to refuse him passage to Manchester United and that some time in the future, he will get his move. The man is 27, not 31, one more season makes very little difference.
The potential of the sulky forward going on strike has been bandied around but this is very unlikely. It would be a dramatic step for him to physically refuse to play and you have to think that it sends out all the wrong messages to a manager like Ferguson who has always been a stickler for professionalism and good conduct.
The second issue - surrounding potential additions to the club - could be crucial. Our disastrously slow start to the season has as much to with a lack of fire power in attack as it does the disruption caused by the Berbatov saga (both are, of course, interlinked).
It has been reported that Damien Comolli and Daniel Levy are hard at work attempting to rectify the glaring lack of strikers or defensive cover but to what extent can they manoeuvre in the transfer market without the £25m+ generated from the sale of Berbatov. One might argue that if he can be inspired to play again, the club needs only to buy one top-class forward but, having not replaced Robbie Keane and facing the prospect of a having to play a half-hearted want-away striker, it is unlikely Ramos will want to go into September without two new forwards.
It may well be, regardless of what happens with Berbatov, the club have the funds available to buy the players they want. This is most likely the case. Although all and sundry take great delight in pointing out we have spent £40m+ this summer and seemingly gone backward, it tends to be omitted that we have recouped perhaps more in player sales.
Ultimately, fans should be pleased that we are not willing to roll over and admit defeat without putting up a fight. Whatever his faults, Levy seems determined that the club are not bullied into selling Berbatov unless the price is right for us. Let's hope that, whatever happens, he remembers that new player need to bought in as much as current player need to be stopped from leaving.