Berbatov: A square peg in a round hole

It says everything about Dimitar Berbatov's three years at Manchester United that, on the night when he was needed most, he was not around to make a difference. Having complained of feeling unwell on Tuesday afternoon, the £30.75 million (Dh184.34 million) club-record signing spent a frustrating 90 minutes watching from the stands at St James' Park as his teammates toiled against Newcastle United. Despite being the Premier League's leading goalscorer this season, Berbatov's failure to deliver when it truly matters, such as his missing of two golden chances in Saturday's FA Cup semi-final defeat against Manchester City, has placed a question mark over his future. He might have made a decisive contribution had he been available, but recent form suggests not and, in a ground where another enigmatic United forward - Eric Cantona - once scored the goal which propelled his team to a league title, Berbatov was a mere spectator. The paradox of Berbatov's fall from grace at Old Trafford in recent weeks is the unexpected prospect of United cashing in on the Bulgarian this summer and actually regarding it as a good piece of business. As he approaches the final year of his contract this summer, Berbatov's ‘book value' at United will be no more than £7.5 million. Due to amortisation of contracts and depreciation of assets (ie players), most clubs divide the transfer fee of a player over the duration of their contract and reduce his value each season. Last summer, Berbatov was valued at £15 million by United. This summer, the figure will be halved due to the final quarter outstanding on his contract. But despite his relegation to third choice forward behind Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez, Berbatov's status as the League's leading scorer will inflate his value and ensure that United can look to bank perhaps £15 million for the former Tottenham forward. Most clubs shy away from substantial investments in players beyond their 30th birthday. In fact, United have not paid money for an outfield player older than 27 since they signed Henning Berg and Teddy Sheringham, 31 at the time, in the summer of 1997. But Berbatov still commands interest from clubs across Europe and Juventus, Fenerbahce and Bayern Munich are already jockeying for position should Ferguson listen to offers. For all of his languid style and undoubted technical qualities, Berbatov's problem is that he increasingly resembles a square peg in a round hole at United. Aside from his hat-trick against a struggling Liverpool team last September, Berbatov has not scored against a team United would class as a competitive rival since netting in the 3-0 win against Chelsea in Jan 2009. His natural game slows United down and enables defenders to squeeze up and constrict space due to their knowledge that Berbatov will never turn on the last defender and cause the kind of problems posed by the pace of Hernandez. When Rooney teed up Hernandez in the second minute last night with a cross that saw the Mexican only denied by Tim Krul from close range, it summed up the pair's blossoming partnership - slick and incisive. The club has a one-way option to extend Berbatov's contract by another 12 months, but the chances of that appear less likely. And if United bank more than £7.5 million, they could even argue that they had made a profit on Berbatov's capital value - or at least the accountants could."gulfnews"