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Manchester United legend Dimitar Berbatov has named his two footballing idols. The Bulgarian chose legendary strikers Marco Van Basten and Alan Shearer.
The talismanic forward had an incredible career that saw him line up for United, Tottenham Hotspur and Bayer Leverkusen. He managed 251 goals in 615 career appearances before retiring in 2019.
Berbatov was asked by Manchester United's official website why he never celebrated his goals wildly, to which he replied:
"To be honest, this was me. This was me; this was who I was. I didn’t celebrate much, like some persons are doing now. I always tried to show my respect, first and foremost, to the guy who gave me the assist. Going first to them, to say 'thank you', as we played in the same team.
He continued:
"And then raising my hand because my idol was Marco van Basten and Alan Shearer. When I score a goal, I was raising my hands to try to pay respect in the way I was doing that, when scoring goals.”
Manchester United legend Dimitar Berbatov idolises two of football's greatest strikers
Manchester United's former striker Dimitar Berbatov has named two legends of the sport as his idols. Alan Shearer is a bonafide Premier League legend. He's the competition's all-time top scorer with 260 goals.
The former England striker won the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers in 1995. Following the win, Shearer moveed to Newcastle United in 1996, where he became a Tyneside hero.
Although the former Magpies captain never won the Premier League with Newcastle, he carved his name in English football history as one of the greatest strikers to grace the game. He finished top scorer of the league on three occasions and was named the 'Player of the Year' five times.
Meanwhile, Marco Van Basten was a phenomenon at AC Milan during a hugely successful stint. In 373 appearances for both Milan and Dutch side Ajax, the legendary striker scored 276 goals.
He was instrumental in Milan's success during the 1980s, helping the Rossoneri claim the European Cup twice as well as the Italian league on three occasions. Van Basten also won the Dutch league with Ajax three times, wowing fans with his extraordinary skill and goalscoring prowess.
For the Netherlands, Van Basten was a sensation, top-scoring in their successful European Championship campaign in 1988. He won the Ballon d'Or award three times - in 1988, 1989 and 1992.
