Dimitar Berbatov, the former football star known for his time at Manchester United and Tottenham, has shared a chilling story from his past involving a kidnapping attempt by gangsters aiming to influence his career decisions.

Berbatov, now 44, recounted the harrowing experience from when he was just 18 and playing for CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria. Until now, he had kept this incident a secret from his colleagues at Manchester United and other clubs.

In a conversation with Rio Ferdinand on the “Rio Presents” podcast, Berbatov disclosed that he was held captive for several hours. The ordeal began when he was approached at a restaurant by men believed to be linked to the infamous mobster, Georgi Iliev. During the encounter, Berbatov feared for his life.

Reflecting on the experience, Berbatov admitted, “I was somewhat naive and perhaps too trusting because we played on the same team.” He recounted how he got into a car with a teammate who drove him to a restaurant.

Once there, he noticed a solitary man seated at one table, surrounded by intimidating figures at nearby tables. Berbatov described these men as “typical Balkan guys,” whose presence was menacing.

Dimitar Berbatov opened up on his kidnapping ordeal on Rio Ferdinand’s podcast

The teammate who brought him there advised him to approach the solitary figure, saying, “Go over there, sit, I’ll see you later.” The man then beckoned Berbatov, instructing him to sit down.

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

‘And the guy started talking. He’s like, “do you know what they call me?” Now, in English, it’s going to be like, the word probably is going to be, they call me the cook.

‘I’m like, all right. “So we know about you. We need to change the team. We want you in our team. We need to get you.’ And I’m like, “yeah, but I’m playing in CSKA Sofia. I mean, I like it there”.

‘He said, ‘we will figure that out. Don’t worry about it.’ And the guys were sitting there and I’m just like this, you know, intimidated, of course. So maybe two, three hours sitting there, and in the end, the guy let me call my dad.’

Berbatov said the gangsters eventually let him leave and return home. ‘I’m like, “what the f**k? 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.” 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.

‘And 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. Maybe they’re going to beat me, or I don’t know, you know”.

His kidnapping was first documented in a 2007 book but the former striker’s appearance on his ex-Man United team-mate’s podcast marks the first time he has told the story in detail.

Berbatov, now 44, won two Premier League titles during a successful spell at Man United

Ferdinand asks Berbatov why he has not heard about the kidnapping before, and why the Bulgarian has never told his team-mates.

‘Because for you, some of the things [that happened] are going to sound unbelievable, but for me it was like nothing special happened,’ Berbatov says. ‘It was part of life back in the day.’

Berbatov spent three years at CSKA Sofia after joining as a 17-year-old before he moved to Bayer Leverkusen.

He made the switch to the Premier League with Tottenham in 2006 before signing for Man United for £30.75million in 2008, going on to win two league titles, the League Cup and the Club World Cup during his time at Old Trafford.

Berbatov then had spells at Fulham, Monaco, PAOK and Kerala Blasters before retiring in 2019.