Ferguson 'less optimistic' over Berbatov deal as deadline looms

Winning the European Super Cup tonight would be a good way for Sir Alex Ferguson to end the month but he would much prefer to sign Dimitar Berbatov before the transfer window closes next week, a prospect which seems ever more distant after he admitted that "communication" with Tottenham had broken down.

Tonight Manchester United face Zenit St Petersburg in the European Super Cup final in Monaco while behind the scenes the club will try to finalise the deal to sign Berbatov. Yesterday Ferguson was at his most negative yet about the long-running transfer saga. With the deadline on Monday night, he conceded he was "less optimistic" about signing the Spurs striker.

"I'm less optimistic today so we will carry on," Ferguson said. Asked whether he thought the deal was off, Ferguson said: "I don't know. I've no idea what has gone on. It is very hard to get communication from some people in life. We just have to get on with it."

Spurs are in negotiations to sign Andrei Arshavin, expected to line up for Zenit tonight, and their success in that deal will have an impact on how much they are willing to soften on Berbatov.

United have Luis Nani back in the side after his suspension and the Portugal international is expected to start the game as well as Owen Hargreaves, controversially selected despite the injury that Ferguson says will rule him out of England's World Cup qualifiers. Ferguson's team last played in the Super Cup final in 1999, when they lost to Lazio, then managed by Sven Goran Eriksson.

"Last time we came here in 1999 for some reason I picked a weakened team," Ferguson said. "When I saw Lazio celebrating at the end of the game like they had won the World Cup I said to myself that wouldn't happen again. There will be some changes of course but it will be a strong team so hopefully it will represent us in the right way.

"Having watched Zenit last season, they played attacking football which captured a lot of people's attention. They had a fantastic season and I hope it turns out to be a really attacking exciting game."

Manchester United (probable, 4-4-2): Van der Sar; Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Fletcher, Hargreaves, Scholes, Nani; Tevez, Rooney.

Zenit St Petersburg (probable, 4-1-3-1-1): Malafeev; Anyukov, Puygrenier, Krizanac, K Dong Jin; Tymoshchuk; Dominguez, Zyryanov, Danny; Arshavin; Pogrebnyak.

Referee: C Larsen (Denmark).

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