According to The Independent Dimitar Berbatov will sign a contract extension later this month that will see him stay at Manchester United until the end of next season. But is this a sensible move for the aging Bulgarian?
Berbatov continues to slip out of contention at Manchester United and doesn’t look to really be involved in Sir Alex Ferguson’s future plans. He was the club’s top scorer last season, but hasn’t got a look in this term. I can only imagine how sparingly he’ll be used next season if this trend continues.
Despite his ability, Berbatov has dropped to United’s fourth choice striker. He’s behind Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez in the club’s roster and has no realistic prospects of ousting any of these sprightly young things. He’s now 31-years-old and should surely be looking for the last decent contract of his career.
He shouldn’t be content to see out the final years of his time as a professional footballer on the bench, when he could still get plenty of game time at a top club.
It’s difficult to know, however, exactly what’s motivating Dimitar Berbatov to sign a new contract. According to The Independent the Bulgarian’s contract includes a ‘one-way’ option which enables United to extend it by a year at their convenience. It’s not so much the case that Berba’s keen to stay at United, simply that he wont have much of a choice.
Sir Alex Ferguson certainly seems confident that he’ll remain a United player next season. Speaking after the Ajax game last week he said: “I think we resolved that – that he will be here next year.”
Now I’m not quite sure what a ‘one-way’ option is, but I have to say the situation seems odd. How can United be able to extend a contract at will? Isn’t that just a form of slavery? Without knowing the details of Berbatov’s contract with United it’s difficult to know exactly how keen he is to remain at a club where he’s not going to play very often.
There’s believed to be plenty of interest in the lanky Bulgarian. Paris St-Germain, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, and Anzhi Makhachkala are all thought to be keen to make a move. There’s a good chance he’d be able to rebuild his career at any of these clubs. He’d certainly get more of a look in than he currently does at Old Trafford.
With that in mind, perhaps it’s time that Manchester United let him go?
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Its nothing to be puzzled about really. The club wants to extend his contract so that he doesn’t eventually leave on a Bosman. They’ll probably wanna get back 6-7 million for him.