Berbatov came close to joining Sunderland

Berbatov has told Sky Sports that he held talks with the Black Cats this season, but nothing came of them.

“I want to play and to be honest I had a couple of conversations with managers, even Sunderland,” he said.

“But in the end nothing happened. When you play for football for so long, and I’m still in good shape and I’m staying in shape, football is my life.

“At this stage of my life it’s only about football now. Just to play a little bit more, one more game or one more year. To enjoy my team-mates, the football, the pitch, the fans. But as I said nothing came of it in the end so sometimes life is what it is.”