Spurs drop protest plan as Manchester United snatch Dimitar Berbatov for £32m

United had seemed in danger of Premier League sanctions after a remarkable day of frenzied activity in the north-west, until Tottenham agreed a compromise.

Another brick in the wall: Berbatov looks pleased with himself in Manchester on Monday night

The Old Trafford club had found themselves in direct competition with neighbours Manchester City after a takeover at Eastlands enabled manager Mark Hughes to table a £34m bid for the Bulgaria striker.

Although that was accepted by Tottenham while a United offer of £25m plus £7m-rated striker Fraizer Campbell was turned down, Berbatov insisted he only wanted to move to Old Trafford and spent the afternoon speaking to manager Sir Alex Ferguson at the club’s training ground before having a medical at a city centre hospital.

After passing that, he signed a four-year deal, with Campbell going the other way on a year-long loan.

United boss Ferguson said:  'This is a key signing. Dimitar is one of the best and most exciting strikers in world football.

'His style and ability will give the team a different dimension and I am sure he will be a popular player with the fans."

White Hart Lane sources claimed on Monday evening that Ferguson was discussing a move with the player in Manchester even though United had not been given permission to approach him.

United were staying characteristically silent on the matter but it is understood that they decided to take matters into their own hands — and risk a Premier League investigation — when time began to run out towards the end of the deals window.

Although Spurs were privately furious about United’s conduct, they eventually agreed not to pursue the matter once the deal had been done. Berbatov, for his part, was so desperate to join United that he rejected advances from City out of hand.

Last night Berbatov said: 'Joining Manchester United is a dream come true for me.

'I look forward to playing my part in helping this club win more honours in the years to come.'

Berbatov's signing is crucial to Ferguson and will give the option of using a traditional through-the-middle centre forward for the first time since Ruud van Nistelrooy left the club three summers ago.

Tottenham started an intriguing day by confirming the £14m signing of Russia striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, a sign that they were preparing for life without Berbatov.

Despite the Bulgarian not featuring in coach Juande Ramos’s last two Tottenham teams, the London club were determined not to be bullied by United and accepted City’s unexpected bid with immediate relish when it arrived just after midday.

Briefly there was hope at City that — fuelled by millions of pounds from prospective new owners at the Abu Dhabi United Group — they could pull off one of the coups of their history by hijacking United’s transfer.

However, soon after manager Hughes said he was hopeful of meeting Berbatov for talks, the 27-year-old landed at Manchester airport on a private jet and was whisked straight to United’s training centre for talks with Ferguson.

As the day grew ever more intriguing, there were reports that Ferguson drove away from Carrington with Berbatov hiding on the back seat under a blanket. The Bulgarian was later captured by TV cameras shaking hands with United chief executive David Gill and manager Ferguson at Old Trafford.

Meanwhile in London, Tottenham officials fumed at United’s behaviour and continued to stress that their Premier League rivals had absolutely no right to be talking to the player.

Even as United pushed the deal through, Tottenham were privately talking about reporting them to the Premier League and even about possible High Court action, though they later relented when United came close to matching their £32m valuation.

Sources at Tottenham remained perplexed by the way United had pursued the player and, in particular, why they did not just pay the price if they wanted him that badly.

United, meanwhile, felt Tottenham had been inflexible and had refused to communicate directly even after signalling the end of Berbatov’s White Hart Lane career by dumping him out of the first-team squad in recent weeks.