Former Manchester United chief David Gill reflects on run-ins with Sir Alex Ferguson and 'nightmare' Dimitar Berbatov deal 

• David Gill worked Sir Alex Ferguson during time as chief executive
• They both stepped down from their respective roles in May 2013
• Gill struggled to convince Daniel Levy into selling Dimitar Berbatov   

By Martin Domin for MailOnline

Published: 18:48 EST, 16 September 2015 | Updated: 18:51 EST, 16 September 2015

Former Manchester United chief executive David Gill has given fans a glimpse of life at Old Trafford when Sir Alex Ferguson ruled the roost.

Gill and Ferguson both left the club in 2013 as United entered a transitional phase under former Everton boss David Moyes.

And Gill was particularly illuminating when discussing the transfer dealings at Old Trafford during a business class at Manchester Grammar School.

David Gill shared a good working relationship with former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson

Gill was embroiled in lengthy negotiations with Daniel Levy when trying to sign Dimitar Berbatov 

Tottenham chairman Levy did not agree to sell Berbatov to Manchester United until deadline day

'I don’t know (why clubs do business so late in the window). It is very difficult,' he told the Manchester Evening News.

'With Tottenham, I’m not speaking out of turn, and Daniel Levy, he would like to do that.

'In 2008, when we won the Champions League, we decided that we couldn’t rely on [Carlos] Tevez, [Wayne] Rooney and [Cristiano] Ronaldo to score all the goals so went for another forward and that was [Dimitar] Berbatov. I spoke to Daniel Levy in June that year, made an offer, and it went on for the whole summer.

'It was a nightmare. There was a great picture my wife took of me, on holiday in Florida, on the phone to Daniel Levy, with my foot on a fire hydrant.

'In the end I felt it affected Spurs because we did the deal in the end, at midnight on deadline day, so Tottenham couldn’t get a replacement in.

'The way the deal got done was that Daniel needed a striker and asked about Fraizer Campbell. So Alex had to phone up Fraizer and say "by the way Fraizer, do me a favour, you’re going to Tottenham now". And that’s how it happened.'

On Ferguson's transfer strategies, Gill said: 'I would speak to Alex very regularly, once a day, twice a day some days, and would meet him every Friday morning very early.

'We had discussions about players. He would give certain priorities, like the character being harmonious, to an extent.

Berbatov looks dejected as he sits on the substitutes' bench during Tottenham's match at Middlesbrough 

Manchester United used Fraizer Campbell as bait to finalise a deal to sign Berbatov in August 2008 

'But the very fact that Manchester United were winning trophies on a regular basis under Alex, people wanted to come and play for him.'

Gill and Ferguson enjoyed a strong relationship at United but even the chief executive was not immune from the Scot's fiery temper.

'We had some run-ins,' Gill said. 'If we hadn’t I don’t think we would have been effective. At the end of the day, we both wanted Manchester United to be as successful as it could be.

'If the team does well, you get prize money and a lot of extra income in. It’s all high margins so you can reinvest that back in the team, which is the most important part.

'I think I walked out of his office once. The language was atrocious. But he called me a couple of hours later talking about something else as if nothing had happened. I thought, "fair enough".' 

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