Berbatov Gets His Wish, Moves to United

The summer's longest and arguable most tedious English transfer saga came to its inevitable conclusions in the wee hours Monday when Tottenham agreed to sell Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov to Manchester United for a princely pittance of £30.75. Berbatov -- who'd become a hero in two short seasons at White Hart Lane thanks to 46 goals in 101 matches -- basically pulled a Manny Ramirez this summer and pouted his way out of North London.

Don't feel too bad for Spurs, though. The club gets back promising striker Fraizer Campbell on a year-long loan from Manchester United, plus it nearly doubled the £16 million it paid Bayer Leverkausen in May 2006. That profits helps offset some of the mindless signing made in the last gasps of the Martin Jol era, namely £7 million for the immortal Younes Kaboul.

It's too early to say if a strike trio of Campbell, Darren Bent and Roman Pavlyuchenko is enough to push Tottenham into the elite Top Four Club of the Premier League. Spurs did grab Croatian Verdan Corluka earlier in the day from Manchester City, so what could have been a dark day turns out to be another overcast shade of gray for the club that seams perpetually caught between stations.

On the flip side, this is a Michael Scott win-win-win scenario for Manchester United, though to the non-United fan its another case of the rich getting richer. The Red Devils already hold the trophies in the Premier League and the Champions League and they get a classy striker that most importantly provides a big, physical target presence inside the 18-yard box. Berbatov finally replaces the void left by the departure of Ruud van Nistelrooy, who like Berbatov stands about 6-foot-2. Berbatov has his work cut out for him if he's to match RvN's astounding 0.685 goal rate at Old Trafford.

Who wouldn't want to trade places with Sir Alex Ferguson? Imagine being able to throw Berbatov at forward, with Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez sitting behind him and Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs and Nani providing width on the outside? Obviously all these stars won't be able to play together every game. It might be a clear embarrassment of riches, but one you'd sign for if it were your team.

It may only be September, but this move for United, coupled with Robinho landing across town at Manchester City, opposed to Chelsea utterly changes the dynamic of the Premier League race.