Congratulations to Dimitar Berbatov, who has now overtaken Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Barry as far as newspaper column inches are concerned. All was quiet on the Bulgarian striker front in the early part of the summer, leaving him with plenty to do in order to overtake his Premier League counterparts. However, a big strop ahead of the Sunderland match last weekend ensured that he is top dog with regard to transfer speculation.

It also appears that he’ll have something in common with Ronnie and Bazza, as his mooted deal to Manchester United does not look like happening. While cogs are whirring behind the scenes, the Manchester Evening News reports that Sir Alex Ferguson is not too confident of landing the striker, although the Scot could just be dumbing down talk of signing the Spurs man.

With Monday’s deadline looming, Fergie admitted: “I’m less optimistic so we’ll carry on.

“I’ve no idea what’s going on. It’s very hard to get communication with some people in life.”

United chief executive David Gill added: “Clearly there’s not long to go. We’re working on it but I’ve been doing transfers for many, many years and know nothing is done until it’s done.”

It seems that more and more transfer dealings take place right at the end of the allotted timeframe, with clubs sticking to their guns for as long as possible before committing themselves to a sale or purchase. Perhaps Spurs are trying to guarantee a replacement for Berba before letting him go, although it’s not as if the Bulgarian is going to be much use to them if he stays.