Dimitar Berbatov on Arsenal: ‘I loved scoring against them. When I eat red sauce it reminds me of Gunners because they are red and I used to eat them!’
DIMITAR BERBATOV had never even heard of Tottenham when they first made their move to sign him 11 years ago.
The striker was 25 and playing for Bayer Leverkusen when his agent told him Spurs had been in touch and he replied: “Who?”
But Berbatov soon grew to know — and love — the North London club as he ended up joining for £10.9million and starred for them for two seasons.
And far from being nobodies, the Bulgarian now believes Tottenham will become one of the biggest names in Europe within two years.
Berbatov, 36, is as fond of Spurs as he is Manchester United, who he won the Premier League title with twice in a four-year spell.
And he is thrilled to see their rise under Mauricio Pochettino, insisting they are no longer a club that stars like Harry Kane have to leave to further their career.
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Just like he did when he quit for Old Trafford in 2008.
Granting SunSport a rare interview at the team hotel of his new club Kerala Blasters in Kochi, India, Berba said: “I watch all of my old teams and am happy when they are growing, like Spurs are.
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“I think in a couple of years they will be one of the biggest teams in Europe.
“They are building a great stadium, they have a great squad, a great coach, the training ground is fantastic. They have everything to be a great team.
“Footballers speak with each other constantly and everybody is telling me Pochettino is a great manager. A great man-manager.
“You need to be a psychologist. This is most important these days. And when I met him in the summer, I could see he was everything that was described to me.
“I’m sure the players love him there, that’s why they play for him. I would have liked to have played for him.
“I’m sure in a couple of years Spurs will be the team you want to go to and stay, not want to leave for a better place.
“Kane is Mr Spurs there. I’m sure if he sees that Spurs are growing, winning and are the team most players want to go to, he is going to stay.
“When I visited, I just told the coach and players the only thing missing is a trophy — but they will get that soon.”
Berbatov does actually know what it is like to win a trophy with Tottenham having lifted the League Cup in 2008 — Spurs’ last silverware.
Memories of that triumph takes us nicely on to Saturday's North London derby, as it was Arsenal who they demolished 5-1 in their semi-final second leg, to reach the final where they beat Chelsea.
Berbatov brings up that famous White Hart Lane win unprompted, as he explains how much he enjoyed his battles against the Gunners.
He smiled: “I remember beating them 5-1 in the semi-final. I was so sad after the game that I didn’t score. But I remember scoring against Arsenal a couple of times. It was a good feeling.
“I loved scoring against them. I loved bullying that defence. When I eat red sauce it reminds me of Arsenal because they are red and I used to eat them!”
That is the sort of quote only the brilliant Berbatov, who is wearing personalised ‘DB9’ flip-flops, could come out with.
SunSport meets him just after his team’s lunch, which he ate sat at his own table, quietly flicking through his phone.
It seemed he also used the cutlery on offer from the hotel, significant because Robbie Keane recently revealed how Berbatov used to bring in his own knife and fork to training at Tottenham!
Why? A deadpan Berba replied: “Because people can be dirty and you need to look after your own hygiene.”
Berbatov had hoped to lock horns with his old pal Keane — who he says was his favourite strike partner — in the Indian Super League on Friday night night.
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The Blasters played out a goalless draw with Keane’s ATK, bossed by Teddy Sheringham, in the season’s curtain-raiser.
But while Berbatov played the full 90 minutes, the Irishman was missing through injury.
Mention of Keane, though, brings back memories of Berba’s early Tottenham days under Martin Jol, the Spurs supporters and his initial move from Germany in 2006.
He said: “I remember speaking to my agent and he was like, ‘We have offers from this club’, and I was like, ‘Who?’
“My world at the time was Germany and Leverkusen. I said, ‘I want to stay here. This is my home’.
“It was childish thinking. But then sometimes you don’t think, you just make a decision — in this case it was the right one.
“The fans sang some songs about me but I felt embarrassed. I was like, ‘Come on, don’t do it’, because it’s not my thing. I prefer people singing for other players.”
Berbatov, who hit 46 goals in 102 Spurs games, added: “I loved Martin Jol. We just struck a connection straightaway. He reminded me of my grandad.
“He was probably the guy that believed most in me. He was just, ‘Berba, go enjoy, do what you want to do’.
“When someone says that, I straightaway think, ‘OK, now this guy is showing faith in you, don’t f****** let him down’.
“I see football in my own way. Everybody can be on the right and I will be there on the left. But Martin knew that I saw something that not everybody else saw.”
Berbatov teamed up with Jol again at Fulham after he left United, before heading to Monaco, PAOK in Greece and now Kerala, who are managed by another of his former bosses, Rene Meulensteen.
His last competitive match — before last night — was in May 2016 but he was keen to move to India to prolong his career, even if he has had to adapt his game.
Berba, who is now taking his coaching badges, added: “At this stage of my life, I don’t want to score goals any more to be honest. I scored goals all my life.
“Now I want to do more like what Iniesta is doing at Barcelona, like what Pirlo was doing — being the maestro of the team, the conductor.
“I just want to be part of the team and let the other boys shine and score goals.
“We have a lot of quick players here — sometimes they go past me and I’m like, ‘Berba, it’s time’.
“At my age, as much as I want to, it’s not possible any more to play at the highest level. But I wanted to play a bit more.
“Every footballer wants to play as long as they can. I remember Ryan Giggs doing yoga all the time so I have been doing that now for almost four years.
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“This is probably one of the reasons why I feel good as well and can stay in shape.
“But you also need to be a realist and know that the moment will come when you just need to stop, because you see the space on the pitch and you want to go there but it’s just not possible anymore.
“So I will see how I feel after this. If I don’t feel good or I’m not happy with how I have done, I will probably stop.”
