Ramos: Berbatov has his price
Juande Ramos says Dimitar Berbatov "has his price"
Thursday, 03, Jan 2008 07:42
Tottenham Hotspur manager Juande Ramos has admitted "everyone has a price" when referring to in-demand striker Dimitar Berbatov.
The Bulgarian, who signed for the north London club from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2006 for £10.9 million, has impressed pundits and scouts alike with his performances.
And clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester United are thought to be in the hunt for the 26-year-old.
However Ramos, who only took over from former manager Martin Jol at the end of October, has admitted a bid that breaks the existing Premier League transfer record would tempt the club to offload their star player.
"I think a club would have to break the British transfer record to sign Berbatov," the Spaniard said.
"It's normal that they would have to pay such an amount. There are very few players of his class. At this moment Berbatov's value is more than this price."
The existing record value of a player is believed to be £30.8 million - the price paid by Chelsea for AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko. And Ramos said it would surprise him if any club came in with an offer as high as this.
"Everyone has a price, but the intention of Tottenham is not to sell the player," he continued.
"It's not a question for me if a club can pay this. The other clubs will know what they need for their squads.
"Unless something strange happens - and I think it will not happen - there's not going to be a club that will pay the price that Tottenham could accept."
Earlier this week Aston Villa midfielder Stilian Petrov, who is an international team-mate of Berbatov's, said it was "only a matter of time" before a big club came in for the talented striker.
However assistant manager Gus Poyet claimed the club had not received any offers and was not looking to sell the striker in the current transfer window, regardless of the price.