Just forget about the money, forget £30m ever changed hands. This debate always comes back to the same thing - the fee. We wanted him for less but City were prepared to go to £35m (maybe more), so our hand was forced if Spurs were going to entertain our offer.
The fee is nothing to do with Berbatov, it was simple economics - the player was in demand by at least two cash-wealthy clubs, which boosted his value abnormally. The money's paid, forget about it. Just judge the player the same way you would if he'd come through the youth system and cost us nothing, because the fee's not his fault.
I think once you do that you'd recognise him as a good player in his own right. Scores goals whilst not being prolific (Bergkamp and Cantona weren't prolific either), links play very well, lays on assists, and contrary to popular belief, has been working very hard for the team tracking back and pressing opposition players.
All in all, a very decent option to have in the squad with alot of quality in his play. OK, so we've found a system that works in big games with Rooney as a lone forward, but if you're going to cane Berbatov for not matching up the world's best player on form, then you're just being unneccessarily harsh for the sake of it.
