He has scored 7 goals in 10 league appearances this season but has spent most of the season as fourth choice behind Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez.

“I am a Manchester United player, but I do not currently play in as many games as I want,” he said. “I’m not happy that I do not play. But I cannot blame anyone, especially in the media. When I have something to say, I go and talk face to face with the manager. He decides everything.”

Speaking about his future at United, Berbatov added: “There was nothing concrete as an offer to me. I read about such things, but they are more speculation. I do not know how long I will stay at Manchester United. To my knowledge, the clause to extend my contract for another year is automatically activated in March. I know nothing more.”

The club tried to sell the striker in the summer following his omission from the Champions League final squad but the player wasn’t having any of it, determined to stay on our books and fight for his place and has behaved admirably since.

Whilst Berbatov’s contract expires in the summer, meaning he would be allowed to leave for free, United have the option to extend his deal by a further year. If you are to believe the manager, that is what the club is intending to do.

“There is absolutely no reason for me to let him go,” Ferguson said last month. “He is an outstanding footballer and we will give the extra year. He plays a great role and he trains well. He has no complaints. The boy is a great professional and we are happy for him to be here. You need a good number of strikers in the modern day. If you look back to 1999, we had four great strikers. They all played their part. That is exactly what will happen today.”

However, Berba is one of the highest earners at the club and if the policy from the summer is to be continued, where we saw the likes of Wes Brown and John O’Shea replaced with younger players on much smaller wages, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see him leave in January, when at least we could get some sort of a transfer fee for him too. It’s a disgrace to think we could sell him whilst keeping the likes of Federico Macheda and Mame Biram Diouf but that’s a possibility under the Glazer ownership.

Speaking to Bild, Berbatov’s representative, Ivan Dobrinov, has claimed the talk of the Bulgarian returning to his former club, Bayer Leverkusen, is not just a rumour. United will let the player know in the next week whether his deal will be extended for another year, and if it’s not, he will be free to leave in January.

“It’s more than a rumour,” Dobrinov said. “Leverkusen have it on their minds to get Berbatov. There is contact, but nothing concrete yet. It all depends on United’s plans. We wait until 2nd January. Until then, United have the option but if that does not happen then Berbatov would be a free transfer in the summer. The player has never forgotten Leverkusen, the club is still very dear to him. Furthermore, he has a good relationship with the leadership at Bayer.”

Yesterday Leverkusen CEO Wolfgang Holzhauser was reported to have confirmed the interest.

“I would even say that the contact is friendly. But there is certainly nothing concrete at the moment. I also read that Manchester United would like to extend his contract.”

Today though, following an interview with Deutsche Presseagentur, Holzhauser claims Berbatov’s agent is just stirring things and that they haven’t tried to sign him.

“A transfer of Dimitar Berbatov to our club is pure speculation and we will not partake in this gossip,” he said. “Things have been forced by his agents and it displeases me to know that. We have remained in close contact with Dimitar since he left the club but this is purely on an amicable basis.”

In just his second league start of the season against Wigan, Berbatov scored a hattrick, showing that he still has a part to play. Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck were both given a rest and the Bulgarian ensured we got three points regardless. Will he be happy to be used in this way? I don’t see why not, considering that’s how he ended last season.

“My mind was always set on joining Manchester United,” he said two months ago. “How can you not go to United? I don’t play for money. I play for glory and winning championships. I’m happy here. My family is together in Manchester. I hear people complain about the weather, there’s nothing to do and the food. But, for me, it’s not like that. I play for a club I love, the biggest club, and everything else doesn’t matter.”

We would have to understand if he chose to leave though because he is too good to be used as sparingly as he is at United. Leverkusen’s top scorer this season is Eren Derdiyok on 6 goals which a tally Berba would obviously feel confident of beating. Berbatov spent six seasons at Leverkusen and according to his agent would have no problem with returning. He turns 31-years-old next month and this could be his last opportunity to sign a big contract. However, it would be quite a step down to join Leverkusen, who are currently 6th in the Bundesliga.

“Manchester United are at the top,” he said in the summer. “Where can you go from there? If you go somewhere else it is a big step down.” Is he prepared to make the big step down? Will United make that decision for him? Four days until we find out…

“Dimitar is still in my thoughts,” said Ferguson. “I have read some things but there is absolutely no reason for me to let him go. He is an outstanding footballer and we will give the extra year. It is unfortunate the form of Javier Hernandez over the last year has been outstanding but he plays a great role and he trains well. He has no complaints. The boy is a great professional and we are happy for him to be here. You need a good number of strikers in the modern day. If you look back to 1999, we had four great strikers. They all played their part. That is exactly what will happen today.”

Whilst the player has repeatedly spoken about the manager in a respectful way and stated his desire to get back in to the team, his agent, Emil Danchev, has claimed Berbatov would be open to a move away from the club this January.

“We would be interested when Anzhi make a concrete offer,” Danchev said. “We will sit down with Dimitar and ponder this. I don’t know if Dimitar is happy in Manchester. He plays, then he just sits on the bench.”

Anzhi Makhachkala are a Russian club who recently made Samuel Eto’o the best paid player in world football after his move from Inter Milan.

After failing to fully justify his massive price tag in the first two seasons it was great to see our Bulgarian play such a vital role in such a massive season for the club. The hattrick against Liverpool, five goals against Blackburn, and the two goals against Blackpool after we had gone 2-0 down, were the highlights of his best season with the club.

“I will go nowhere,” he said on the day we won the league. “Now I am part of United’s 19th title and I want to be part of the 20th, that’s my plan. I am the happiest man in the team.”

There was no bitterness from him, no sense of trying to prove people wrong, or being smug about turning things around after being written off. His attitude was second to none, the kind of behaviour you would expect from one of our homegrown players, not a foreigner who had only been at the club for a few years.

“I have said before the people of Manchester United are the judges and that is the way it should be,” he said. “It is their team. I am a guest. A privileged guest. I am so lucky to play here. For these people. For this manager. For this club. With these players. I can’t describe it.”

However, after lifting our 19th title, his situation took a turn for the worst, when the manager bizarrely didn’t include him in the squad for the Champions League final. Michael Owen, who had scored just 5 goals that season, was preferred to our top scorer, who was left in the dressing room crying.

The obvious assumption was that he was going to leave the club. Clearly he wasn’t in the manager’s plans and there was no way the league’s top scorer could or should tolerate being left out of the squad for such a big game. However, true to form, Berba was a class act in his dealing with the situation, so determined was he to stay at United.

“Smaller clubs might be able to match Manchester United with the way they play, with their organisation, everything. But Manchester United are at the top,” he said. “Where can you go from there? Maybe Barcelona. At the moment, I don’t see anything else. If you go somewhere else it is a big step down. I have the good fortune to play for Manchester United. For the time I am here I try to do my best and win everything there is to win. There is no other way I can play.”

Then, after losing his starting place in the team towards the end of last season, he started this season fourth choice, behind Danny Welbeck as well as Chicharito and Rooney. He has played 100 minutes in the league out of a possible 540 and has had just 8 minutes in the Champions League, coming on against FC Basle last week when we were 3-2 down.

On the same night, Manchester City were getting a battering in Germany and Roberto Mancini wanted to change things up. Edin Dzeko had a strop about being replaced before Carlos Tevez, who has already had two transfer requests rejected in his two years at the club, refused to replace Samir Nasri. Tevez, who is reportedly earning £250k a week, was begged to come on for the last 20 minutes, only for him to remain seated on the bench. Mancini claimed if he had things his way he would never play the Argentinian again.

Whilst I don’t think we should be celebrating the fact that Berbatov isn’t behaving like the strikers at City, I think the comparison should serve to remind us how lucky we are to have players like Berba who think too much of the club to show disrespect towards it or the manager. If anyone was entitled to have a bit of a sulk it is him, going from the league’s top scorer one season to the club’s fourth choice the next, but we haven’t seen any petulance when being subbed off and nothing but positivity in the press.

According to the manager, it isn’t just a public front from Berba, with him grafting in training too.

“Dimitar has been training terrific,” the manager said last week. “His attitude is spot on. He will get his game time as the season wears on.”

Whilst Tevez couldn’t care less who he played for, or even if he played at all apparently, playing for United actually means something to Berba.

“My mind was always set on joining Manchester United,” he told Crerand this week. “How can you not go to United? I don’t play for money.”

Before joining United, despite City agreeing a fee with Spurs, which allowed Berbatov to come to Manchester, the Bulgarian didn’t even bother meeting with Mark Hughes’ team, despite knowing that it would certainly put pressure on United to pay him more. He has reflected on the conversation he had with his agent back then.

“He called me to say we have interest from Manchester United. I said: ‘Don’t joke with me’ but he said he was serious. So I was speechless. When the biggest club contact you, it’s a big deal.”

Tevez slagged off the city massively, claiming once he leaves he will never return, and bizarrely, that we only have two restaurants.

“I’m happy here,” said Berbatov, in contrast. “I hear people complain about the weather, there’s nothing to do and the food. But, for me, it’s not like that. I play for a club I love, the biggest club, and everything else doesn’t matter.”

Over the past few years I have written several articles on these players, comparing their attitudes and contribution to the team. Chances are, this is the last one I’ll get to write, as both players should leave in January.

Tevez should go under a cloud of shame, with both blues and reds happy to see the back of him, another mercenary exposed. In contrast, the disappointment that surrounds Berba’s exit should be massive. One of the most talented players I’ve seen at United, who never quite clicked fully, but whose attitude towards the club is exemplary.

Of course, there is the possibility of Berba staying until summer, or even beyond if the club choose to activate the one year extension clause in his contract, but it seems ridiculous prolonging this. He isn’t an impact player like Chicharito or Solskjaer, ready to come off the bench for the last ten minutes after not playing for a fortnight. Aside from that, he is so much better and deserves so much better than that. So if the club can’t offer that to him, he should leave.

Berbatov won’t be remembered by all the way I would like him to, that classy Bulgarian fella who won us our 19th title, but I do hope our fans can respect him for the contribution he has made and way he behaves. When you look at how players like Carlos Tevez, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Mark Hughes left our club, or the things they went on to do and say, we should be thankful for a player who genuinely seems to get United. We got rid of that horrible Argie troll and replaced him with a proper gent who loves playing for this club. Whatever happens next, whether at United or elsewhere, I genuinely hope he gets all he deserves. Top player, top bloke.

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STATS: Berba’s goal distribution compared with PL top scorers
STATS: Berba’s goal distribution compared with ALL United’s PL top scorers
Does it matter that he’s lazy now?

“My mind was always set on joining Manchester United,” he said. “How can you not go to United? I don’t play for money. I play for glory and winning championships. I’m happy here. My family is together in Manchester. I hear people complain about the weather, there’s nothing to do and the food. But, for me, it’s not like that. I play for a club I love, the biggest club, and everything else doesn’t matter.”

Reflecting on United’s initial interest in signing him from Tottenham, the 30-year-old was contacted by his agent Emil Danchev.

“He called me to say we have interest from Manchester United,” added Berbatov. “I said: ‘Don’t joke with me’ but he said he was serious. So I was speechless. When the biggest club contact you, it’s a big deal for me coming from a small country like Bulgaria.”

Michael Owen has said it is no surprise Berba volunteered for the role, given that the Bulgarian sometimes plays there in training.

“Berba can play there, he does it occasionally in training,” said Owen. “It was no surprise when he put his hand up and said he would do it.”

Berbatov put in a good shift in defence, but Owen was also happy with his own contribution, after scoring two goals.

“I am very satisfied,” he said. “It is great to play in such a good team that is so full of confidence. We killed the game in the first half. They didn’t want to lose by five or six, so they stuck one up front and made it a bit more compact after half-time. We managed to contain them and they hardly had a kick until the last minute. All in all, it was a good night.”