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17th Apr 2017

Dimitar Berbatov’s explanation for his sublime touch is so very Dimitar Berbatov

Nobody killed a ball like Berba

Darragh Murphy

We can’t decide what’s most enviable about Dimitar Berbatov.

But we’ve narrowed it down to either his perfect first touch or his dreamy eyes. My God, those eyes!

Berbatov’s close control is the stuff of legend and his ability to kill a ball stone dead turned him into a cult hero at the likes of Manchester United, Spurs and Fulham.

We would show you the Bulgarian’s famous first touch against Aston Villa in 2013 but children might be reading this article and that piece of skill amounts to pornographic material.

But you can find it, if you’ve not already seen it.

How does Berbatov manage to control the football so tenderly? Well, he has the perfect explanation.

“You have to be gentle with the ball like you are gentle with a woman,” the 36-year-old said on Goals on Sunday.

Just when you thought he couldn’t be any more Berbatov, he only went and did it.

Berbatov is without a club, having been released by Greek side PAOK at the end of last season.

But the forward is open to a return to football and even held talks with Sunderland over a sensational Premier League return.

“I want to play and to be honest I had a couple of conversations with managers, even the Sunderland one,” Berbatov said. “But in the end nothing happened.”

https://twitter.com/GoalsOnSunday/status/853543815298207744

When asked if he would still entertain the chance of moving to the Stadium of Light, Berbatov confirmed that he would indeed be open to that idea.

“Of course, at this stage of my life it’s only about football now,” he added.

“Just to play a little bit more, one more game or one more year. To enjoy my team-mates, the football, the pitch, the fans. But as I said nothing came of it in the end.”