Dimitar Berbatov- The Luxury Footballer

In an age when modern football is dominated by quick counter attacks, tiki-taka, team pressing and the result is all that matters, Dimitar Berbatov is one of the last of his kind—a player who plays the game to dazzle those who watch it

- Govindan Kishwar

Strange. That's the word Dimitar Berbatov says describes him best. Strange. “Doctor Strange, you know that movie? Yeah, strange,” he says. After everything he has been through, all the struggles and sacrifices, and the achievements as a result of it, it’s an odd choice.

But given the kind of footballer he was in his prime, and still is in the last legs of his career, calling himself strange doesn’t seem that strange at all when you think about it.

Berbatov is not like those of his time, or those before him. He may even be the only one of his kind. When the world was going gaga over that little Argentinian at Barcelona, the midfield maestro, or regista, of Italy and the Portuguese showboater who would soon become a goal-scoring machine, Berbatov was doing something different. He was playing football for the love of it. Sure, it’ll be hard to find many who don’t love the game and play it, but no matter which club he played for, he stood out in every team like none have since—exasperating in one moment, coming up with a piece of magic the next. Whether it was Germany, England or France, his style of play wasn’t corrupted by coaches who spoke languages different from his.

Speaking to Berbatov, you get the sense that he values the little things in life, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. One moment sticks out. Following his deadline day move to Manchester United from Tottenham, Berbatov still remembers walking onto the pitch at Old Trafford the first time. The stadium has flags above the stands for each nationality that is part of the team, and a Bulgarian flag was the first in United’s history.