Gossip: Berbatov Can Quit Spurs
Sun: JUANDE RAMOS last night told Dimitar Berbatov: Leave Tottenham if you want.
New Spurs coach Ramos insisted he would never stand in the way of a player who wanted to quit the club.
And in an exclusive interview, Berbatov’s brother Asen claims stroppy striker Berbatov wants a move to Manchester United.
The Bulgarian, 26, is frustrated in North London and has scored just two goals during Spurs’ poor start to the season.
Ahead of tonight’s UEFA Cup clash with Hapoel Tel Aviv, Ramos said: “I believe you can’t force players to stay in the team if they don’t want to.
“It is not good for the team or the player so I wouldn’t stand in anyone’s way if they want to leave. I think Dimitar is happy but that is a question you need to ask him.
“He is a Spurs player and he needs to help and support the team.”
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Sun: DIMITAR BERBATOV is desperate to join Manchester United, according to his brother.
The Tottenham striker has allegedly ‘outgrown’ the Londoners as he looks for a January switch from White Hart Lane.
Berbatov, 26, was a summer target for the league champions and, while the Bulgarian hitman has since insisted he wanted to stay at Spurs, he is now ready to move on.
Tottenham face Hapoel Tel Aviv in the UEFA Cup tonight, with Berbatov’s agent Emil Dantchev already having staged talks with the club’s sporting director Damien Comolli.
Berbatov’s adviser continued to maintain the player wanted to stay put under the new Juande Ramos regime.
But the striker’s brother, Asen, declared: “In my opinion, Tottenham are OK. In Manchester, though, things will be better — much better.
“If United really want him, maybe he should go. I think it is his time to go. There is nothing more to do at Spurs.
“Dimitar is under-performing. He is feeling very good physically. But as regards everything else, it is a big disappointment — especially with the team dropping in the league.
“He doesn’t feel very good emotionally. This is the reason that the games are not going well. My brother is like this. When the team has bad form, he goes into standby mode.
“He shares his secrets about everything, yet still we don’t talk about the new coach. Sometimes he finds it better to withdraw from things and collect his thoughts.
“Nothing is changed. Everyone is looking for a way to escape from this situation.
“My brother is at this moment feeling depressed. The problem is he doesn’t score and the team goes bad. The rumours about him do not bother him.
“I think he will stay in England. He likes the style of football. He has outgrown Spurs. He needs to find a bigger club. I think this next season he will go to a bigger club.
“Next season he will be in a club playing in the Champions League.”
Businessman Asen, 23, also admitted his moody brother — a £10.9million buy from Bayer Leverkusen in July last year — can be a pain in the backside.
He clashed with former Spurs boss Martin Jol, after ignoring three requests to warm-up while sitting on the subs’ bench at Newcastle on October 22.
Asen added: “His skill comes from his mental approach. When my brother is grumpy, his form is bad. I do not know why he is grumpy to everybody. I know him very well and I can see when he is playing now he is grumpy.
“On the pitch I can see he has lost the desire to perform. When team-mates close him from the game and don’t pass to him, he switches off.
“I saw the Newcastle game and Spurs were abysmal.
“Even considering that my brother loves Newcastle but plays for Tottenham, when he is not the centre of attention and main man, he is grumpy.”
