[12] His father and mother worked in a tobacco factory and nursing, respectively, after their sporting careers; during the hardship of the final years of communism in Bulgaria, Berbatov did not have a football and had to practice with a basketball or a pig bladder.

[14] Berbatov began his youth career with his home-town club, Pirin, where his talent was spotted and he scored 77 goals for their reserve team in 92 appearances.

Berbatov's first game in Europe came in September 1999, in a 2–0 defeat against his childhood team Newcastle United;[16][17] it was during that season, 1999–2000, that he started to make his name, scoring 14 goals in 27 league matches.

[18] On 24 August 2000, Berbatov scored five goals in the 8–0 home win over Constructorul Chișinău in a UEFA Cup first qualifying round match, becoming the only CSKA Sofia player to manage this feat in a single game in the European tournaments.

[20] A run of nine goals in eleven games during the first half of the 2000–01 season was enough to persuade German club Bayer Leverkusen to pay €1.3 million to sign a four-year contract with Berbatov on 1 January 2001.

[24] Berbatov found himself being used as a substitute by manager Berti Vogts, making six appearances and scoring no goals as Leverkusen finished fourth and qualified for the following season's UEFA Champions League.

[32] Berbatov established his place as the first-choice forward during the next season, 2002–03, and netted his team's goal against Manchester United on 24 September 2002, during a 2–1 defeat for Leverkusen.

[41] After Tottenham lost 2–0 to Bolton Wanderers in Berbatov's first league match in England on 19 August 2006,[42] he scored his first goal for Spurs three days later in a 2–0 home victory against Sheffield United.

[58][59] Ongoing rumours of a substantial bid by Ferguson's club unsettled him, and Berbatov was dropped for the games against Sunderland and Chelsea during August, the season's first month.

[64] Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, meanwhile, accused Tottenham of having used the complaint to the Premier League to negotiate a higher price for Berbatov from Manchester United.

[82] After being dropped to the bench for games against Arsenal and Marseille, Berbatov returned as a second-half substitute for Javier Hernández against Bolton Wanderers on 19 March and scored the winner in the 88th minute (his 20th goal of the season), giving United a 1–0 victory.

[86] On 22 November 2011, Berbatov ended his long run without a goal in the Champions League by scoring the equaliser in a home game against Benfica in a 2–2 draw.

The first, he directed his header past the keeper after Rafael da Silva's mishit cross, and then he fired home Antonio Valencia's pullback to level the game.

On 31 August 2012, it was announced Berbatov had signed a two-year contract with Fulham for an undisclosed fee of approximately £5 million, reuniting with his former Tottenham manager Martin Jol.

[92] After scoring against Southampton on 26 December 2012, Berbatov took off his shirt to reveal the words "keep calm and pass me the ball" written on his vest, a celebration for which he was yellow-carded and which Jol described as "not the brightest thing to do".

[93] On 30 January 2013, his 32nd birthday, Berbatov scored the first in a 3–1 home win against West Ham, raising his tally in the Premier League to eight since joining the Cottagers.

[95] He followed it two weeks later with a brace in the first half of a 3–2 win over West London rivals Queens Park Rangers,[96] and finished the season with 15 goals in 33 games, joint seventh best in the league.

[101][102][103] Berbatov made his Ligue 1 debut in a 1–1 home draw against Paris Saint-Germain on 9 February, coming on as a second-half substitute for Valère Germain.

[111] Berbatov was mainly used as a substitute or as a defensive midfielder instead of his prime position as a striker and commented that the then-manager David James used "absurd tactics".

[112] After a year-and-a-half without a club, but training several times with Beroe Stara Zagora, Berbatov officially announced his retirement from football on 19 September 2019.

[122] In February 2012, newly appointed Bulgaria head coach Lyuboslav Penev revealed that Berbatov was willing to consider coming out of international retirement and participate in an upcoming friendly against Hungary.

Berbatov eventually decided against accepting a call-up for the match, as he didn't feel that he was in top shape, but at the time did not rule out a return to the national side at some point in the future.

Berbatov was known for his footballing intelligence, technical ability, ball control, and composure; in particular, his unhurried stance in front of goal was described by The Scotsman's Tom Lappin as "elegant and calm".

As such, he was often used as a deep-lying centre forward, receiving passes from the midfield, holding the ball up and then using his tactical acumen and well-honed skill to bring his teammates into the game.

[125][126][127][128][129] It was because of these characteristics that he was signed by Manchester United, who intended for Berbatov to complement the combative and busy style of their English striker Wayne Rooney.

Whereas Rooney was known for exerting himself vigorously for the entirety of a match, Berbatov employed a more laid-back and composed style, and because of this was sometimes criticised by observers who interpreted this as laziness;[125][126] he was also accused of being inconsistent at times by certain pundits.

[132] He learned to speak English by watching the American Godfather series of films;[133] outside football, he lists his hobbies as drawing and basketball.

Berbatov's long-time girlfriend, Elena, gave birth to their first child, a girl named Dea, on 15 October 2009 at a hospital in Sofia.

[137] Berbatov claims that at the age of eighteen, he was held hostage with plans of making him sign for Georgi Iliev's football team, Levski Kyustendil.

[139] The foreword was written by former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who apologised for leaving Berbatov out of the 2011 UEFA Champions League final.