That's the view of his former manager Ron Atkinson, who tells Paul Radley why Bryan Robson was the best
If Dimitar Berbatov completes a move to Manchester United ahead of tonight's transfer deadline he could play a big role in the Premier League champions' season.
But, according to the former United manager Ron Atkinson, he will have to go some way to match the exploits of Bryan Robson, the midfielder who became a legend at Old Trafford.
According to Atkinson, the former England captain Robson is one of the best players United have had since the days of the Busby Babes. That is quite a claim when put against the feats of the likes of George Best, Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs and Roy Keane.
"He [Robson] is on a par with anybody who has played for United since the Holy Trinity of George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton," said Atkinson, now 69 and in Dubai to work as a pundit for TV.
"They have never had a better player. They have had some great players, but they have never had a better player."
Atkinson believes the acquisition of Berbatov, 27, is key to United's chances of retaining either of their Champions League or Premier League titles this term.
For a second consecutive summer Berbatov has admitted to wanting out of White Hart Lane.
Although the London side have signed the Russia international Roman Pavlyuchenko, they have already seen the forward Robbie Keane move to Liverpool.
Last week, his Spurs colleagues labelled Berbatov selfish for the way he has sulked around the training ground after failing to get his move north sooner.
The whole saga started in underhand fashion, according to the Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, when the United manager Sir Alex Ferguson turned his head by publicly announcing his interest in the striker.
Wanderlust quickly gripped the Bulgaria international.
He had been the darling of the Spurs faithful during two scintillating seasons at the head of their attack, but when he then begged Levy to let him leave, he quickly became a pariah.
Despite this, he has the makings of an Old Trafford legend, according to Atkinson, who was Ferguson's predecessor as the United boss.
"I think his arrival would be a major plus for them, particularly as Cristiano Ronaldo looks like he will have two more months out," he said.
"They are short in that area, particularly with Louis Saha moving out [to Everton].
"Forgetting about how he has gone about it at Tottenham, he would be a fantastic player for them.
"When they had [Wayne] Rooney, [Carlos] Tevez and Ronaldo, they could compensate for not having a proper centre-forward.
"Without Ronaldo, it is difficult for them.
"I think it is a great opportunity for Chelsea to step in and put some pressure on them."
Berbatov's protracted transfer bears many similarities to that of Robson's move from West Bromwich Albion in 1981.
Atkinson moved to Old Trafford from The Hawthorns in June, and made Robson his main transfer target.
"I did it officially. I went to the club and said 'We want to make an offer for Bryan Robson'," he said.
"They said, 'Right, what would you pay?' I told them and they said it wasn't enough. That was the start of it.
"Then the manager [Ronnie Allen - who had recently succeeded Atkinson] went on record as saying 'Bryan Robson will leave this club over my dead body... unless the price is right'. So we made the price right.
"If I was Spurs, it wouldn't have bothered me because you know that is what happens in the game.
"It is done through the press, and quite often the press just run their own stories.
"If I was a manager, and people were trying to upset my players, it wouldn't bother me that much.
"I'd just turn around and say 'Look, either you come up with the money and he goes, or he's not for sale'. That would put an end to it."
Berbatov will have a tough task in matching Robson's feats if his move to Old Trafford does go through before the Premier League transfer window closes tonight.
Robson's move for £1.5million (Dh10m) was a British record, and not matched until six years later when Liverpool paid £1.9m to sign Peter Beardsley from Newcastle United.
He made 345 appearances for the Red Devils, scoring 74 times, in 13 years in the north west of England.
pradley@thenational.ae
Pari
Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment
Director: Prosit Roy
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani
Three stars
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Kandahar%20
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The Lowdown
Kesari
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Produced by: Dharma Productions, Azure Entertainment
Directed by: Anubhav Singh
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
UAE players with central contracts
Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Rameez Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Adnan Mufti, Mohammed Usman, Ghulam Shabbir, Ahmed Raza, Qadeer Ahmed, Amir Hayat, Mohammed Naveed and Imran Haider.
Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
The specs: 2019 Audi A8
Price From Dh390,000
Engine 3.0L V6 turbo
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 345hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque 500Nm @ 1,370rpm
Fuel economy, combined 7.5L / 100km
How much of your income do you need to save?
The more you save, the sooner you can retire. Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.com, says if you save just 5 per cent of your salary, you can expect to work for another 66 years before you are able to retire without too large a drop in income.
In other words, you will not save enough to retire comfortably. If you save 15 per cent, you can forward to another 43 working years. Up that to 40 per cent of your income, and your remaining working life drops to just 22 years. (see table)
Obviously, this is only a rough guide. How much you save will depend on variables, not least your salary and how much you already have in your pension pot. But it shows what you need to do to achieve financial independence.
Series result
1st ODI Zimbabwe won by 6 wickets
2nd ODI Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets
3rd ODI Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets
4th ODI Zimbabwe won by 4 wickets
5th ODI Zimbabwe won by 3 wickets
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
Rashid & Rajab
Director: Mohammed Saeed Harib
Stars: Shadi Alfons, Marwan Abdullah, Doaa Mostafa Ragab
Two stars out of five
KLOPP%20AT%20LIVERPOOL
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Premier League results
Saturday
Crystal Palace 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 2
Cardiff City 2 West Ham United 0
Huddersfield Town 0 Bournemouth 2
Leicester City 3 Fulham 1
Newcastle United 3 Everton 2
Southampton 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1
Manchester City 3 Watford 1
Sunday
Liverpool 4 Burnley 2
Chelsea 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1
Arsenal 2 Manchester United 0
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
Sly%20Cooper%20and%20the%20Thievius%20Raccoonus
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Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
The biog
Family: Parents and four sisters
Education: Bachelor’s degree in business management and marketing at American University of Sharjah
A self-confessed foodie, she enjoys trying out new cuisines, her current favourite is the poke superfood bowls
Likes reading: autobiographies and fiction
Favourite holiday destination: Italy
Posts information about challenges, events, runs in other emirates on the group's Instagram account @Anagowrunning
Has created a database of Emirati and GCC sportspeople on Instagram @abeermk, highlight: Athletes
Apart from training, also talks to women about nutrition, healthy lifestyle, diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Hot%20Seat
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder turbo
Transmission: CVT
Power: 170bhp
Torque: 220Nm
Price: Dh98,900
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
Al Wasl means connection in Arabic
World’s largest 360-degree projection surface