Tottenham manager Juande Ramos has toldclubs interested in Dimitar Berbatov that they will have to break the British record transfer fee to sign the Bulgaria striker.
Berbatov’s agent had claimed his player would be keen to leave White Hart Lane if a club playing in the Champions League wanted him.
Both Chelsea and Manchester United have been linked with a £26 million offer, and Ramos conceded that Berbatov could be sold if Tottenham receive an offer higher than the British record £30 million fee that Chelsea paid Milan to sign Andrii Shevchenko in 2006.
“I think a club would have to break the British transfer record to sign Berbatov,” Ramos said.
“At this moment Berbatov’s value is more than this price. At least that is what we think. But everyone has a price.
“The other clubs will know what they need for their squads. But it’s normal that for a player of this level they would have to pay such an amount because there are very few players of his class.
“The intention of Tottenham is not to sell the player. It’s not a question for me if a club can pay this,” he said.
“Unless something strange happens – and I think it will not happen – there’s not going to be a club that will pay the price that Tottenham could accept.
“The truth is that I understand perfectly why he would cost so much money because there are few players like Berbatov. And those who do exist play for great teams who play in the Champions League. And those great teams will not sell their players.
“He’s the only great player who has not played in the Champions League that they could sign.”
Following Michael Carrick’s move to Manchester United in 2006, Sours would be reluctant to lose another key player if they want to be taken seriously as contenders for major honours.
“That is a logical deduction,” Ramos said. “So our intention is not to sell Berbatov and we don’t want to. What’s more we want to sign good players.
“I fully expect that at the end of January I will have all my four strikers. At this moment I am convinced they will continue with us because we want them to.”
