Every young footballer dreams of fame. For one Manchester United star, that dream almost ended before it began. He was still a teenager when a shocking event changed his life forever.
One day, after training, he accepted a ride from a teammate. It seemed harmless. Yet that decision took him to a place he would never forget.
He was driven to a restaurant, where several men sat waiting. Also, they were large, silent, and intimidating.
Recently, Dimitar Berbatov appeared on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, where he shared a shocking incident when he was kidnapped by gangsters. Berbatov said:
“I was playing for CSKA Sofia and I was really starting to show my qualities.
“Normally when you show your quality, teams will come for you. But back home it was different. Back home it was like, ‘Him? All right, bring him here.’”
Berbatov had no idea what was coming.
“A teammate said, ‘come with me, I need to bring you to a friend of mine.’ I trusted him. We got into a restaurant. On one table there was a guy by himself. On three others, big guys, typical Balkan guys, just looking scary.”
Moments later, his teammate disappeared.
“The guy said, ‘come here, sit down.’ I was thinking, ‘what is going on? I need to call my dad.’ He started talking. ‘Do you know what they call me? They call me the cook.’ He said, ‘we need you to change the team. We want you in our team.’”
“Two or three hours sitting there, and in the end, he let me call my dad. I said, ‘I’m here, I don’t know where I am. The people around me, big guys.’ My dad said, ‘calm down, breathe.’”
Eventually, his father intervened. The situation ended without violence.
“Maybe they were going to beat me. But eventually my dad came and took me in the car. I was like, ‘oh my God.’ It made me realise I need to grow up quick.”
Years later, Dimitar Berbatove became one of the most graceful strikers of Manchester United. But that night in Bulgaria reminded him how dangerous early fame could be.
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