Transcript of Dimitar Berbatov interview from MUTV Group Chat

Mikael Silvestre played with him at Inter and said the same…
“He was [on] a different planet. I never wanted to change shirts when I played, because I wasn’t this type of player, but the one shirt I wanted and I got was when I played with Leverkusen against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. I wanted his shirt, but I was so shy to go and ask him, I made one of my team-mates, Juan, who was Brazilian, to go and get it for me, because I was so shy I didn’t even know what to say! So he gave it to me.”

You scored unbelievable goals for Man United. But would you prefer to set somebody up than score a goal?


“Actually, if I’m to be 100 per cent, if I can go past three players and then give it someone just to make a tap-in, I would do it every time. I prefer that. Honestly, because I will know I’ve done the hard thing, and that goal will be as much mine as to the other player.”

How close were you to joining Man City?
“In my mind, it was never. Because in that time, for me, it was about reaching my personal top, and that was Man United at that time. When you see the shirt, the red shirt, the badge, the history, the players, the managers… I mean, you fell in love immediately. My agent said, ‘We have the interest from Man City’ but I said, ‘Man, please, you know where I want to go, just one way’.”

You had a great rapport with United fans, as well. As soon as you signed, they had that song, ‘One look at City…’ Did you feel that love from supporters quickly?
“I did, but I feel very strange – it was the same in Spurs – when someone is going to sing a song for me. I’m thinking to myself, ‘Guys, please’, because I feel embarrassed. Embarrassed is the right word, because I don’t deserve that. I don’t know how to explain it, but I did not feel in my place. I felt in a spotlight, and I didn’t like that. I just wanted to play football, and when you hear something like this, it’s a good thing, but I felt embarrassed.”

If fans see you now, what do they ask you about most? Is it the hat-trick against Liverpool?
“Probably, because that hat-trick was against Liverpool, which puts a lot of weight on it. It’s really special. Most of the time they ask me about that game and that goal with the scissor-kick, and I needed to explain every time how it happened and everything. That’s it probably. But it depends who the fans are. I have people from Leverkusen still asking me questions, from Sofia, from Spurs, it’s different.”

I’m interested in what your view of United at the moment is, and particularly the strikeforce, Rashford, Anthony Martial. You played with Martial at Monaco – how do you think he’s developed, and did you ever speak to him about United?
“When I go to Monaco and I see all these talented players, Martial, Fabinho, James Rodriguez, Falcao was there as well. First or second training session – I’m 33 at the time – and these young players are flying past me and I’m like: What the f*** is going on here? You can see talent straight away, if you know where to look. You can see talent straight away. I saw Martial, and he had everything. Speed, tricks, power, stability, balance, you know? The only thing he didn’t have was that confidence that he could beat someone. Wes can tell you that in training sessions I used to play as a defender sometimes, because I enjoyed playing that in training sessions. When I was in Monaco, in a five-a-side training session, I go to defend, and he was coming at me full speed. But there is that moment in football where young players, if they face-off one-on-one against someone more experienced, that can play on their mind. So he was thinking that I can easily get the ball from him because I was more experienced, but that wasn’t the case. I took the ball from him, but after training I was telling him, ‘Anto, you’re so fast and quick, you can go past me like that [clicks fingers]. Don’t think [about] it too much, just go past me, because you’re so incredibly fast and talented’. The way he has gone to Manchester after that and developed, for me, I love him. I like playing with him, to watch him play and score goals, because he’s a different player. [His] imagination is high. I like him and Marcus Rashford a lot – that’s why I said many times I would like to see them play more and more and more, because they are so young. The future is ahead of them. The funny thing is, before Manchester bought him, Jim Lawlor give me a call – the head scout from Manchester. And he’s like, ‘Berba, we’re watching that boy from Monaco, Martial. What do you think?’ I was like, ‘He’s unbelievable, he’s just needs some guidance, someone to give him the right direction’. Manchester took him after that, but I’m still waiting for my commission. Tell Jim that!”