Dimitar Berbatov holds key to this season's title race
At least when Alf Common was transferred to Sunderland for a British record fee of £1,000 in 1904, Sheffield United got the benefit of the money.
By Patrick Barclay
Last Updated: 1:17AM BST 17 Aug 2008
Piece of the puzzle: signing Dimitar Berbatov would keep United a step ahead Photo: Getty Images
When Manchester United complete the latest record-breaking deal for Carlos Tevez (hitherto supposedly on loan from West Ham), the proceeds of well over £30 million will be handed to Kia Joorabchian, who arranged the Argentine forward's initial move to England from the Brazilian club Corinthians.
What an appalling commentary on football's administration in this country: the British transfer record is to be held by an agent!
The Football League provide a welcome contrast with their announcement that, although the total paid in agents' fees by 72 clubs rose from £8.6 million to £11.1 million last season, this was a fall from 19 to 14 in terms of the percentage of transfer spending. It is still ridiculously high – would you give an estate agent 14 per cent? – but the degree of transparency insisted upon by Lord Mawhinney has seen the figure fall from a scandalous 53 per cent just three years ago and I do wish the Premier League would follow suit.
Not that the summer window has lacked entertainment value. Indeed, the top end of the market has seldom kept us as enthralled with United reporting Real Madrid for allegedly courting Cristiano Ronaldo and Tottenham, in turn, citing United for their pursuit of Dimitar Berbatov.
A pot here, a kettle there; is it only a matter of time before some Old Trafford source accuses Spurs of enslaving Berbatov, or at least letting it be known they would ship the Bulgarian to the rigours of Barcelona rather than sell him for less than £30m to United?
In my view, Spurs can afford to hold out because Berbatov looks the key to the English title. United hold it – and the European crown – because Ronaldo scored 42 goals in a season. He cannot be expected to repeat that and, while Sir Alex Ferguson is entitled to look forward to Wayne Rooney and others improving with age, they will need a new factor to stay ahead of a refreshed Chelsea and, conceivably, Liverpool.
Ferguson identified Berbatov many months ago and will not have changed his mind. Berbatov is a better footballer than Eric Cantona was. He has the combination of power and grace that marked out the great Marco van Basten and, alongside him, Rooney would become world-class.
PS: All in moderation
No wonder the Prince of Wales exudes bemusement; if he finds the values of the age difficult to understand, he is not alone.
One day last week, for instance, the morning news rightly devoted much attention to his Telegraph interview voicing concerns about agriculture.
Reporter after reporter lined up to describe the Prince’s language as immoderate, one going so far as to opine that it ''verged on the extreme’’.
So if immoderate language, verging on the extreme, is not appropriate when discussing the future of the planet, what would the media prefer the Prince to reserve it for? An attack on Cristiano Ronaldo?
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At least when Alf Common was transferred to Sunderland for a British record fee of £1,000 in 1904, Sheffield United got the benefit of the money.
By Patrick Barclay
Last Updated: 1:17AM BST 17 Aug 2008
Piece of the puzzle: signing Dimitar Berbatov would keep United a step ahead Photo: Getty Images
When Manchester United complete the latest record-breaking deal for Carlos Tevez (hitherto supposedly on loan from West Ham), the proceeds of well over £30 million will be handed to Kia Joorabchian, who arranged the Argentine forward's initial move to England from the Brazilian club Corinthians.
What an appalling commentary on football's administration in this country: the British transfer record is to be held by an agent!
The Football League provide a welcome contrast with their announcement that, although the total paid in agents' fees by 72 clubs rose from £8.6 million to £11.1 million last season, this was a fall from 19 to 14 in terms of the percentage of transfer spending. It is still ridiculously high – would you give an estate agent 14 per cent? – but the degree of transparency insisted upon by Lord Mawhinney has seen the figure fall from a scandalous 53 per cent just three years ago and I do wish the Premier League would follow suit.
Not that the summer window has lacked entertainment value. Indeed, the top end of the market has seldom kept us as enthralled with United reporting Real Madrid for allegedly courting Cristiano Ronaldo and Tottenham, in turn, citing United for their pursuit of Dimitar Berbatov.
A pot here, a kettle there; is it only a matter of time before some Old Trafford source accuses Spurs of enslaving Berbatov, or at least letting it be known they would ship the Bulgarian to the rigours of Barcelona rather than sell him for less than £30m to United?
In my view, Spurs can afford to hold out because Berbatov looks the key to the English title. United hold it – and the European crown – because Ronaldo scored 42 goals in a season. He cannot be expected to repeat that and, while Sir Alex Ferguson is entitled to look forward to Wayne Rooney and others improving with age, they will need a new factor to stay ahead of a refreshed Chelsea and, conceivably, Liverpool.
Ferguson identified Berbatov many months ago and will not have changed his mind. Berbatov is a better footballer than Eric Cantona was. He has the combination of power and grace that marked out the great Marco van Basten and, alongside him, Rooney would become world-class.
PS: All in moderation
No wonder the Prince of Wales exudes bemusement; if he finds the values of the age difficult to understand, he is not alone.
One day last week, for instance, the morning news rightly devoted much attention to his Telegraph interview voicing concerns about agriculture.
Reporter after reporter lined up to describe the Prince’s language as immoderate, one going so far as to opine that it ''verged on the extreme’’.
So if immoderate language, verging on the extreme, is not appropriate when discussing the future of the planet, what would the media prefer the Prince to reserve it for? An attack on Cristiano Ronaldo?
link
terday????
