Berbatov Bemusement: Has He Snubbed Serie A Pair for Fulham?

From The Daily Mirror

Manchester United misfit's busy day reportedly sees him annoy Fiorentina, then reject Juventus and decide to stay in England

Dimitar Berbatov is being linked with Fulham after seemingly snubbing first Fiorentina and then Juventus in a matter of hours.

Manchester United striker Berbatov was due to fly to Florence on Wednesday to complete his move.

But late interest from Serie A champions Juve looked to have scuppered Fiorentina's move for the Bulgarian.

Reports from Italy claimed that Juve had offered ?4.5m for Berbatov, who cost United ?30.8m when he joined from Spurs in 2008.

Although Fiorentina have offered more, the 31-year-old has always wanted to join a club that could offer Champions League football if he had to leave Old Trafford.

Juventus - ironically linked with new United striker Robin van Persie earlier this summer - meet that criteria, unlike Fiorentina, who finished just 13th in Serie A last season.

Fiorentina issued a statement condemning Berbatov for leaving them in the lurch:

"The player got on the flight with his agent and on tickets paid for by Fiorentina. He never arrived in Florence.

"We are happy he didn't come to Fiorentina. He did not deserve our city, to wear our jersey or the values that represent it."

Juve also appear to have been left empty-handed.

Amid reports of a late bid by Fulham - managed by Martin Jol, who previously worked with Berbatov at Tottenham five years ago - the Turin side's sporting director Beppe Marotta was quoted as saying that the player has chosen to stay in England for family reasons.

Marotta insisted Juve had "acted with the maximum fairness and transparency" towards Fiorentina, who earlier accused the Turin club of scuppering their deal for Berbatov with "reckless and arrogant actions".

"We have much to discuss with Fiorentina," Marotta said to Sky Sport Italia. "We have acted with the maximum fairness and transparency with regard to the market dynamics.

"I reject the allegations from Fiorentina. We entered into the business over Berbatov when we heard that he had refused Fiorentina, and in the meantime there was a proposal by Fulham.

"We made our own, then the player said he preferred to stay in England for family reasons. It was not a rejection.

"We wanted to take advantage of an opportunity that had appeared to us in the market. Many teams were following the player."

The joint-top scorer in the Premier League in the 2010-11 season with 20 goals, Berbatov was relegated to just fifth-choice striker at United when Robin van Persie arrived earlier this month.

Berbatov had been linked with the likes of West Ham and Sunderland earlier this summer, while AC Milan, Ukraine's Dynamo Kiev and Zenit St Petersburg of Russia have also shown interest.

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