AC Milan have launched their bid to beat Barcelona and Real Madrid to the signing of Dimitar Berbatov and are understood to have told Tottenham they are ready to start negotiations for the striker.

The Italian giants have turned to Berbatov after giving up hope of buying Chelsea's Didier Drogba and see the Bulgarian international as the man to revive their fortunes.

It looks set to be a summer of fervent activity at White Hart Lane as boss Juande Ramos looks to build on this season's Carling Cup victory.

Spurs slumped in the Premier League after their win at Wembley over Chelsea and can now only finish as high as 10th - a position Ramos will not accept next year.

The Spanish manager has already signed Croatian Luka Modric for £15million and is preparing to raid his former club Sevilla for their brilliant left winger Diego Capel. Spurs may also renew their interest in Portsmouth midfielder Lassana Diarra, having missed out on him during the January transfer window.

Spurs have conceded Berbatov will not be at the club next season and are looking to sell abroad to the highest bidder, although they would prefer a deal with Barcelona in the hope they can use him as bait to sign Samuel Eto'o.

But AC Milan are determined to sign the 27-year-old and have helped their cause by overtaking Fiorentina in Serie A to move into the top four and the final Champions League place, with just two games to go.

Berbatov is desperate to play in Europe's premier club competition and was noticeably absent from the club's official kit launch last night.

Berbatov revealed in an interview in Bulgaria last month that he was fully aware of AC Milan's intention to make a bid.

He said: "There is some interest on the part of the Italian club, that's all I can say. I'll be flattered to go to talks with them." Ramos will move for 20-year-old Capel as soon as the season ends and could capitalise on the buyout clause in his contract.

Capel's buy-out price began at £9.5m but once he'd played 40 first-team games, a target he reached against Murcia last month, the price rose by £2m.

Spurs can pay the fee directly to the Spanish league and then negotiate directly with Capel and his agents without ever involving Sevilla.