Berbatov, 30, enters the final year of his contract knowing this could be his last pre-season tour with United.
Manager Sir Alex Ferguson admitted last week he would not have blamed the Bulgarian striker for demanding to leave after he was axed for the Champions League final against Barcelona in May.
But Berbatov, a £30.75million signing from Tottenham three years ago, is determined to fight for his future, saying: ‘Manchester United is the top. Where can you go from there? Only down. Maybe Barcelona. At the moment, I don’t see anything else.
‘I come from a small country. I have the good fortune to play for Manchester United. Why would you
want to go anywhere else?’
Berbatov remains something of a contradiction. He bagged five goals in one game against Blackburn and a hat-trick against Liverpool to finish joint top scorer in the Barclays Premier League last season, yet he has not scored in Europe since 2008.
Brooding one minute and happy the next, Berbatov’s determination to succeed at United does not always sit comfortably with the languid, lazy-looking approach that so infuriates his club’s supporters.
In his opinion, it is a mark of class.
‘There is a saying in Bulgaria that great quality doesn’t require much effort,’ he said. ‘You’re not going to see me puffing around the pitch.
‘I always play like this. That is what got me here. Last season was proof that, even if you have some downs in your career, if you believe in your style of play, you can do it as well. I’m a proud person. I don’t like to show my weaknesses and emotions in public. That is why people probably sometimes misjudge me.’
Berbatov was so ‘ashamed’ to appear in public at Wembley after Ferguson left him out of the squad that he sat and cried in the Wembley dressing room. But the Bulgarian prefers to look forward rather than back.
‘I still have time. Of course it will drive me on. The good thing about football is that there is always next year. I will have new goals. I was pretty happy we did the historic thing about the 19th title. I was the top goalscorer. For me, the personal thing was great.’
Berbatov's status as a role model sits comfortably on his shoulders, even if he recoils from the thought he could be regarded as an icon, reserving that status for his own hero, Hristo Stoichkov.
'When I was young, I was looking to people like Stoichkov,' he said. 'I told myself one day I would like to be as successful as him. Dreams do come true sometimes.'
Although there was one cataclysmic low, Berbatov experienced some dream days last year too.
The first United player to score a hat-trick against Liverpool in 64 years, a tally that included a magnificent overhead kick, the first non-Englishman to score five in a Premier League game, the Golden Boot for his 20-goal haul.
'I didn't know scoring three goals against Liverpool would mean so much to so many people,' he reflected. Obviously three goals - and the second one was a bit special - it will stay in my memory for ever - and after that I scored five!
'What makes me really proud is that there have been so many foreigners playing in English football, I am the only one with five goals.
'But it is something I have to push to the back of my mind. Last season I had highs in my career. But what if we didn't win the title? Then these things wouldn't matter so much.'
Talking to Berbatov, it is clear that he does care, both about his team and his performance. It seems he wants to be liked, not in an arrogant way, but as an individual who tried to do things a little differently.
'As a good player, doing things the fans enjoyed,' he replied, when asked how he would like to be remembered. I always tend to think my goals are beautiful goals. That is what I want to score; beautiful goals, and create beautiful chances.'
How long will that attitude prevail at Old Trafford, where the challengers, all younger, are queuing up to oust him?
Berbatov does not answer. What he is prepared to concede is that once leaving United, the only way is down. 'Smaller clubs might be able to match Manchester United with the way they play, with their organisation, everything. But Manchester United are at the top,' he said.
'Where can you go from there? Maybe Barcelona. At the moment, I don't see anything else. If you go somewhere else it is a big step down.
'I come from a small country. I have the good fortune to play for Manchester United. For the time I am here I try to do my best and win everything there is to win. There is no other way I can play.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2018982/Dimitar-Berbatov-hits-style-critics.html#ixzz1THqRfi6E
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