Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed he found negotiations with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy particularly difficult.
In his new book 'Leading', the Scot talks about the hard time he had striking a deal with Spurs for Bulgarian forward Dimitar Berbatov in the build up to deadline day in 2008.
In the months's before Berbatov sealed his move to Old Trafford for a fee in the region of £30million, Spurs submitted a complaint to the Premier League over United's pursuit of the striker. Levy accused then Premier League champions Manchester United, who were told Berbatov was not for sale, of 'systematically working to prise the player away from White Hart Lane'.
“That whole experience was more painful than my hip replacement,” Ferguson wrote in his new book, despite eventually sealing a deal for Berbatov.
Sir Alex Ferguson on his missed targets
The striker went on to score more than 50 goals during a four-year stint at Old Trafford, winning two Premier League titles and the League Cup before joining Fulham in the summer of 2012.
