'This is it for me': Dimitar Berbatov reveals kidnapping incident in Bulgaria

“We know about you ... we need to get you.”

Dimitar Berbatov has revealed that he was kidnapped as a teenager.

The former striker, who played for Tottenham , Manchester United , and Fulham in the Premier League , grew up in his native Bulgaria .

Speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, Berbatov opened up on his experience as an 18-year-old, but shrugged it off as it was “part of life”.

“Some of the things for you are going to sound unbelievable,” Berbatov, now 44, said.

“For me, it was like nothing special happened. You were just part of life back in the day. It was tough, tough times back home, you know. Different, [with] gangs.”

Back then, Berbatov was plying his trade back in his homeland, playing for CSKA Sofia in the capital.

After training, I didn’t have a car. So a team-mate of mine, he was like, ‘Come with me, I need to bring you to a friend of mine’

Dimitar Berbatov

“I was really showing what I can do on the pitch,” he continued. “I was really starting to show my qualities.

Normally, when you show your quality as a player, teams will come for you, submit offers, ask how long you have as a contract, how much do you cost to buy, and stuff like that.

“Back home was more different. Back home was like, ‘Him? All right, bring him here.’

“After training, I didn’t have a car. So a team-mate of mine, he was like, ‘Come with me, I need to bring you to a friend of mine.’

“I was a bit naive, of course. Maybe I trusted him because we played in the same team. So I got into his car. He drove me to a restaurant.

Dimitar Berbatov playing for Bayer Leverkusen in 2002

Getty Images

“We got into the restaurant, and in the restaurant there were obviously tables. On one table, there was a guy by himself. On three other tables, there were big guys - refrigerators- typical Balkan guys sitting behind him, just looking and watching you scarily.

“The guy who brought me there was like, ‘Go over there, sit, I’ll see you later.’ The guy was like, ‘Come here, sit down.’

“I’m sitting down, and it’s like, thinking to myself in my mind, ‘What is going on? I need to call my dad.’

“The guy started talking, “Do you know what they call me? They call me the cook’.

“‘We know about you. We need to change the team. We want you in our team. We need to get you.’

Dimitar Berbatov moved to Tottenham in 2006 and was an instant success

Getty Images

“I’m like, ‘Yeah, but I’m playing in CSKA Sofia . I mean, I like it there.’

“‘We will figure that out. Don’t worry about it.’ The guys were sitting there and I’m just intimidated and thinking, ‘I need to call my dad.’

“So maybe two, three hours sitting there, and in the end, the guy let me call my dad, saying ‘I’m here. I don’t know where I am. The people around me, big guys.’

“I was talking really fast, and he’s like, ‘Calm down, breathe.’

“I’m like, ‘What the f***? They’re going to kidnap me here and I don’t want to go, I want to go home.’ And he’s like, ‘OK, OK. Let me see what I can do. I’ll call the guy.’

Dimitar Berbatov earned a move to Manchester United in 2008

Manchester United via Getty Imag

“So eventually someone calls someone, and the big bosses of the two teams figure out a way of me not moving, just staying where I was.

“In that situation, 18 years old, seeing and knowing how things were done back then in Bulgaria, I was thinking to myself, this is it for me .

“I need to say yes, or maybe they’re going to beat me, or I don’t know.

“But eventually my dad came in and took me in the car, and I was like, ‘Oh my God.’

“It made me realise I need[ed] to grow up quickly and be a man really early in my stage of life.”

Dimitar Berbatov speaking to Rio Ferdinand

London Standard

Listen to the full Rio Meets Dimitar Berbatov interview on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.