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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson plans to keep striker Dimitar Berbatov for at least another season.

The 30-year-old has only made five Premier League starts this term and his solitary goal came in the Carling Cup win at Aldershot in October.

But Ferguson said: "Dimitar is still in my thoughts.

"I have read some things but there is absolutely no reason for me to let him go. He is an outstanding footballer and we will give him the extra year."

Bulgarian Berbatov cost United a club record fee of £30.75m when he

He was the top scorer in the Premier League last season with 20 goals but has fallen behind Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck in the pecking order at Old Trafford.

"It is unfortunate the form of Javier Hernandez over the last year has been outstanding, but he (Berbatov) plays a great role and he trains well," Ferguson added.

"He has no complaints. The boy is a great professional and we are happy for him to be here.

"You need a good number of strikers in the modern day. If you look back to 1999, we had four great strikers. They all played their part.

"That is exactly what will happen today."