Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has got his chequebook open and is preparing to make Spurs hitman Dimitar Berbatov his only major signing of the summer.

The champions and this season’s favourites in the Premier League betting, have already lodged a bid for the Bulgaria striker and Ferguson is confident of landing the former CSKA Sofia star before the end of August.

The Red Devils chief, who has not spent a bean in the off season, has been tracking Berbatov ever since his arrival at White Hart Lane in May 2006 for £10.9million from Bayer Leverkusen. The 27-year-old’s stock has risen considerably since then after netting 46 goals in 101 appearances for the north Londoners. But it’s not only his goals which have attracted the admiring glances of the Old Trafford outfit. Berbatov’s ability outside the box has also impressed Sir Alex and he has been on the lookout for a towering centre forward ever since the departure of Ruud van Nistelrooy in July 2006.

United will have to shell out around £24million for Berbatov, handing Spurs a healthy profit on the man they plucked form the Bundesliga two seasons ago.

Ferguson, who is on the club’s pre-season tour of South Africa, will want the agreement wrapped up with Spurs quickly so that he can sort out the finer points with Berbatov ahead of the start of the Premier League season in a month’s time. United are not known for their transfer wrangling and they will be eager to avoid a Gareth Barry-like saga in a bid to get Berbatov on board quickly.

“We have made Tottenham an offer on Berbatov and we have good expectations that this deal will go through,” said Ferguson.

“Berbatov has been impressive during a long time and would be a great addition to our attack.”

The striker’s arrival would surely send United’s Premier League title odds of 2.9 tumbling in, regardless of whether Cristiano Ronaldo leaves or not.

By Phil Tomlinson

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