Spurs boss Juande Ramos was given a simple piece of advice by Roy Keane on how best to deal with striker Dimitar Berbatov and his desire to move to Manchester United – drive him there yourself!
The Bulgarian scored twice for his country in their midweek 2-1 win over Bosnia- Herzegovina, but was not included in the 18-man squad on Saturday with Ramos stating he was not in the right frame of mind to play.
The 27-year-old is the subject of a bid approaching £25m from the Premier League champions and has urged Spurs to let him ‘follow his dream’.
Keane said: “You talk about the power of players and contracts but if a player doesn’t want to play for you I know what I would do - I’d drive him myself to wherever he wanted to go.
“I’ve said it before no player is bigger than any club. Sometimes you have to lose to win to do what’s best for the business.
“I had a player two years ago when I got my job and I heard he’d been speaking to another club within a week or two and I just sold him. Told him he could go and off he popped.”
Keane, however, also understood the need to keep your best players if you want to challenge in the Premier League.
“Nobody’s offered me £18m, £19m, £20m for any of my players yet,” said Keane.
“If you want to go places you certainly try and hold on to your best players.
"But if you’ve got big ambitions like at Tottenham then someone once taught me that no is a sentence so no.
“I’m sure it’s (Berbatov) a difficult situation but you have to deal with difficult situations.
“The manager has to be most powerful person in dressing room. It has to be the manager or else you’d have mayhem on your hands.
"Players sign contracts and you hope they honour them. But having said that and in defence of players managers sign contracts and haven’t honoured them.
“If a player came to see me at Sunderland and says he fancies moving I’d say good luck – I’d wish him well.
“I probably wouldn’t try too hard (to talk him out of it). You have to try and do the right bit of business for your football club.
“If someone came for one of my players you hold out and eventually if the big clubs want a player they have to pay the money.”
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Yes I’m sure ex-Man Utd player Roy Keane would love anything that strengthens his club’s duopoly with Chelsea
Too bad short sighted idiots like him are killing the game.