Berbatov to the Toon. Yeah, right.

Posted on May 31st, 2011 | |

Rumour has it Newcastle United are after Dimitar Berbatov, although personally I think that’s a load of codswallop.

The Sun is allegedly the source of the rumour that Berbatov wants to come to Newcastle after being left out of Manchester United’s Champions League side that lost to Barcelona on the weekend.

And supposedly Alan Pardew would set fire to his gentleman’s area if it brought the striker to St James’ Park.

Manchester United paid Spurs £30.75m for Berbatov in 2009 but he will allegedly be available for a mere £7.5m now.

The Bulgarian forward has undoubted ability having scored 220 goals in 495 appearances at league level and 48 goals in 77 appearances for Bulgaria at international level.

But I think this is a load of rubbish personally.

First, Berbatov is 30, putting him over the age that’s generally considered club policy in terms of transfers these days (although I admit I’ve never heard either Ashley or Pardew state an absolute age beyond which a player is considered too old to join the Toon).

Second there’s his wages. They are estimated to be anything up to £80k or £90k/week, which is the sort of figure that would have Mike Ashley clutching his chest with coronary overload. Even if he takes a ‘substantial’ reduction we’re probably still talking a wage the club would consider to be huge for a 30 year old striker.

Finally, I’m not sure how Berbatov would fit in with the club’s ‘leave egos at the door’ sentiment. He can get a bit uppity if he doesn’t get his own way, such as in 2008 when he threatened to retire from international football over a little criticism. Maybe that’s a bit of an unfair slant on Berbatov and he’s just wanting to play regularly, but the continuation of a good team spirit must be (or should be) one of Pardew’s concerns as he recruits players.

It’s a well-known fact (to those that know it well) that Berbatov’s ‘hero’ is Alan Shearer and maybe that, combined with his omission from the Man Utd team on Saturday, is enough to start off a decent rumour.

I think it’s a non-starter, but what do I know?

NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10). Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.

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