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Ramos coy on Berba future

17 Aug 2008 - 09:32:43

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Spurs head coach Juande Ramos refused to deny reports that Dimitar Berbatov is on the verge of leaving for Manchester United, having dropped the striker to the bench for their opening-day defeat at Middlesbrough.

The £25million-rated Bulgarian started the 2-1 defeat at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday on the bench and afterwards Ramos was coy on Berbatov's future.

Reports on Saturday morning had suggested the 27-year-old had submitted a transfer request in a bid to force through his move to Old Trafford.

"Obviously we have been concentrating on the game and since Friday our minds have been on the game," said Ramos after the opening-day defeat.

"For the moment Berbatov is a Spurs player. We are happy with him, he is part of the Spurs squad and there is nothing to say about it, I don't have any comment to make on it."

Berbatov came on as a 65th-minute substitute, but Ramos claimed the decision to start with him on the bench was a tactical one.

"We actually opted for Giovani (dos Santos) because we thought that his speed would be something that would trouble Middlesbrough," he continued.

"However, as Middlesbrough tired in the game we thought it might be the right moment in the game to throw on Berbatov."