Deadline day - Dmitar Berbatov

If news of the takeover was hard enough to digest today, news this afternoon that we had lodged a bid for Dmitar Berbatov - which was subsequently accepted, came out of absolute nowhere and to say it was a surprise is an understatement to say the least.

It was a move that perhaps caught Mark Hughes by surprise also, with him saying:

"It's really about the boy making a decision. I'm as stunned and excited by this as the fans are."

£34 million is a huge fee, but perhaps a drop in the ocean given the new investment levels available and it is really laying a huge marker down for the new owners and potentially gives us a fantastic player at our disposal.

With the fee was being agreed early afternoon though there was a sense of anticipation that deal could get concluded early evening but the only news to filter through was that he was at United holding talks - something which I don't understand given that no fee has been agreed between the two sides.

He is a fantastic player (who took Dunne and Richards to school in the Carling Cup last year as a lone striker) who would clearly be an asset to the team from a playing perspective, augmenting an already potent looking attacking line-up.

Given though his history of angling for a move to United, is he likely to accept a move to us, or is he (and Tottenham?) hoping that our bid will flush out a higher one from United?

If they don't, he is then faced with the choice of moving to ourselves or going back to Tottenham tail between his legs and trying to rebuild the bridges that have been burnt since the summer.

BBC Sport are calling it a tug-of-war and suggest it will go right to the deadline. For me, the longer it has gone on though, the less likely it will be that we get our man.