Dimitar Berbatov has admitted that he was underwhelmed by Tottenham Hotspur's interest in him, believing that he was good enough to play for a bigger club.
The Bulgarian striker joined Tottenham from Bayer Leverkusen in 2006 and spent two full seasons at White Hart Lane before signing for Manchester United.
Berbatov scored 46 goals for Spurs in all competitions, but he has revealed that it took some convincing for him to join the North London outfit.
"I was like, 'wait a minute, Spurs want me? What? Not Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United?" he told talkSPORT. "I was thinking all these stupid questions because I was thinking I was doing so well that a big team must come after me.
"When you're young, you think you know everything. You think you have all the answers to all the questions, but you have nothing.
"Again, my intuition will start working the same, 'Berbs now is the right time, difficult but we need to challenge ourselves'.
"In the end, their persistence was a big factor for me, and of course, meeting [manager] Martin Jol was the moment I knew I had to go there."
Berbatov went on to play for Fulham, Monaco, PAOK and finally Indian side Kerala Blasters, where he ended his playing career in 2018.