The final act in the drawn-out saga surrounding the transfer of Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester United looks set to be played out within the next few days.
Berbatov, who scored both of Bulgaria's goals in its 2-1 victory over Bosnia in a friendly international last Wednesday, was dropped from the Spurs squad for Saturday's Premier League match against Sunderland.
Several newspapers published photographs last week of Berbatov signing his name on a United shirt for a fan.
Spurs Coach Juande Ramos explained in a statement on the club's website (www.tottenhanhotspur.co.uk) that he had dropped the striker after talking to him before the match as he was "not in the right frame of mind to play".
"As I said on Thursday, I needed to wait and speak to the player when he returned from international duty and then make a decision about whether or not he was right to play in this game.
"I have not selected him as I do not think that he was focused enough and I did not feel that he would be good for the dressing room and the team effort.
"It doesn't matter how good a player is, if he is not in the right frame of mind, then he will not perform well. The only thing I concern myself with is picking the best team to try and win the game."
Berbatov, 27, who joined Spurs from Bayer Leverkusen for 10.9 million pounds ($20.36 million) two seasons ago, has made little secret of his desire to leave for Manchester United, which was widely reported in Sunday's newspapers to be attempting to seal a deal before the transfer window closes next week.
Tottenham values the player at 30 million pounds, while United has made one official bid of 20.5 million pounds which was rejected.
Tottenham, which has made a poor start to the season by losing its two opening games 2-1 to Middlesbrough and Sunderland, will have only one recognised first-team striker if Berbatov leaves - Darren Bent.
(Agencies via China Daily August 26, 2008)