Berbatov : "Bring on the Scousers"....as Fergie enhances his legend status...

The ink has barely had time to dry on Dimitar Berbatov's signature following his dramatic deadline day transfer to the Champions, yet already he's talking like a veteran United player relishing the battle with our biggest rivals Liverpool, which just happens to be the Reds next fixture.

Berbatov has also made it clear that he's not come to Old Trafford for money alone; he says he could have signed for City or Chelsea if that was the case. Thank god that he chose not to do so given the potentially cataclysmic events at Eastlands this week.

The very fact that Berbatov is a United player is down to the Reds cunning plan which unfolded dramatically on deadline day. Spurs wanted to sell Berbatov to City after their £32m bid was accepted for the Bulgarian, the only problem was they couldn't because Fergie himself had gate-crashed the Blues welcoming committee at Manchester Airport and then promptly personally driven him to Carrington.

All the while Spurs were frantically trying to locate their prized asset. Once Sky Sports TV pictures confirmed that the player was indeed being shown around Old Trafford, the North London club threatened the Champions with legal action following the potential loss of a £32m transfer fee from City.

As the night unfolded it became clear that United's plan centred on not allowing Berbatov out of their clutches, though he was a willing hostage to fortune and as the clock counted down towards midnight Spurs were forced into a corner, it was deal with United or no deal.

It turned out to be a costly exercise for the Champions given they had to match City's offer and trump it by giving Spurs Frazier Campbell for a season long loan, in doing so losing out on the £7m Hull had offered for Campbell.

Unconfirmed Reports have even suggested that Fergie had to order Campbell to join the North London club and Reds fans will have a degree of sympathy for the United youngster given that he has largely been ignored in all of this. Football is a strange game at times and sometimes things fall in place unexpectedly - take the events at Eastlands as a classic example of that - if Campbell does well and develops then maybe he will come back to United. Goals come at a premium and therefore there will be plenty of clubs like Hull who will be willing to take a chance on a rising star like Campbell.

United fans are still coming to terms with what happened on the final day of the transfer window, the supporters and myself included have at times questioned Fergie's wisdom, but his legend status was further enhanced after he personally took charge of events on deadline day in doing so foiling City's attempt to spoil the party.

The story of Fergie's role in the Berbatov transfer will be retold a million times, some fans might not be a 100% sure about the Bulgarian, but the determination of the United manager to get what he wanted should be recognised, he went for it and he wasn't going to be out manoeuvred by the late intervention of our bitter rivals from the across the city. Long live Fergie.

Berbatov "hands in transfer request" as Fergie drops big hint...

According to the Sun Dimitar Berbatov has told Spurs that he wants to quit and join Manchester United. This news will surprise few who have been following the story. However, last night Fergie added yet more intrigue to this unfolding story when saying "You might be surprised at what’s going to happen over the next two days.”

The United manager who has been very guarded about the prospect of the Bulgarian arriving at United this summer, which follows on from the North London club reporting the Reds to the Premier League for alleged tapping, but this latest comment from Fergie is very interesting.

Could it be that United and Spurs are about to agree a swap deal with the Champions paying around £24m for the Bulgarian and lumping in a player? We have been led to believe that one of the major sticking points to any deal was that Spurs will need to find a replacement for Berbatov and with so little time left, we cannot rule out that Louis Saha or even Frazier Campbell could become a makeweight in this proposed transfer.

Whatever Ferguson was alluding to it seems all will become clear over the weekend. Let us hope that United finally get their man so we can concentrate on the coming season without more distractions.

Berbatov and Santa Cruz secondary striker targets?

A report in the Sunday Times claims that United will soon tie-up a deal to sign Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov, a player who is not without his critics, there are those who say that he's lazy and lacks pace and that he is by no means the complete striker. It's not all bad though, because when the Bulgarian is on the ball he is arguably the best in the business where touch is concerned and he would certainly bring something different to the Red Devils attack.

United have also been strongly linked with Blackburn's Roque Santa Cruz, the former Bayern star is a class act. The Paraguayan has been strongly linked with a move to Manchester City following Mark Hughes exit. A report in today's News of the World claimed that Saha could be offered as a makeweight as part of the deal.

However, with Euro 2008 getting under way and with neither player taking part it's interesting to note that United haven't thus far made a move for either, which in turn raises the question are either or both on Fergie's wanted list?

United are definitely looking to sign another striker but as yet the identity of the Reds' first choice target remains unknown leaving the media to play their guessing games. Young Dutch star Klaas-Jan Huntelaar remains a possibility as does Lyon's Karim Benzema, given that United are yet to show their hand it could well be the case that Berbatov and Santa Cruz are secondary targets.

The Reds' may have to wait until after Euro 2008 before making their move to sign their top target, which could prove to be something of a costly gamble if either player has a good tournament which will in turn increase the asking price.