12:49AM BST 19 Jul 2012
Federico Macheda’s first-half goal in the Moses Mabhida Stadium secured a 1-0
victory for
Berbatov, a £30.75 million club record signing from Tottenham in September 2008, played the full 90 minutes for United after going public with his desire to leave Old Trafford earlier this week. Having overlooked the Bulgarian for much of last season, Ferguson conceded that he will not stand in the 31 year-old’s way if a club makes a suitable offer.
“I don’t need to herald Dimitar’s abilities,” Ferguson said. “He’s a fantastic talent, but he didn’t get the amount of football he wanted last season.
“It’s difficult for him at his age to accept second place in the forward line. The likes of Rooney, Javier Hernández, Welbeck were all in front of him last season. But in fairness to him today he applied himself well and did very well with the first goal.
“The boy obviously wants to leave, but I’m easy about it. If he stays, I’ll be happy. If somebody comes in for him, we’ll assess it.”
Meanwhile, the Manchester United Supporters Trust has pleaded for greater transparency over the reasons for a potential reduction in the club’s ticket allocation on Merseyside.
Liverpool City Council’s licensing committee will decide next week if United should be given fewer tickets than they would normally be entitled to for future league and cup games following problems at Anfield and Goodison Park last season in keeping gangways clear in the sections occupied by United fans.
