Tottenham Hotspur will face a fight to keep Dimitar Berbatov out of the clutches of Manchester United – but not this summer. On the day that Martin Jol, the embattled Tottenham manager, claimed that he would “rather die” than sell Berbatov, and just 24 hours before the teams square up at Old Trafford for a game that has significant repercussions for both clubs, it emerged that United are hoping to sign the £20 million-rated Bulgaria forward in the future.

A source close to David Gill, the United chief executive, toldThe Times last night that there was “no appetite for a deal this summer”, with Tottenham unwilling to sell now, but a move for Berbatov could be made in January or, more likely, at the end of the season.

United are understood to have inquired about the possibility of signing Berbatov recently, but contrary to some reports, the Barclays Premier League champions, who have spent a projected £68 million on players so far this summer, did not make an official bid for the forward.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s interest in adding Berbatov to an attack that already boasts such a vast array of talents as Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tévez, Anderson and Louis Saha was confirmed by the Bulgarian’s agent last night.

“We had a 90-minute meeting with Tottenham’s chairman Daniel Levy and with sporting director Damien Comolli over Dimitar’s future,” Emil Danchev said. “They informed us that there’s a query from Manchester United about the possibility of Berbatov joining them.

“They [Tottenham] let us believe that they want Dimitar to stay for another season because they have ambitions to finish among the top four teams in the Premiership, but they told us they’ll have a meeting in the next day or two to decide his future.”

If Tottenham are prepared to sell Berbatov, who scored 23 goals for the North London club last season after his £10.9 million move from Bayer Leverkusen, it is unlikely to be with Jol’s say-so, if the manager’s remarks yesterday were anything to go by.

There have been suggestions that Berbatov, who has had an indifferent start to the campaign, would not be happy being used in a rotation policy this season, but Jol claimed the player had no problems. “Berbatov loves me,” Jol said. “If he is playing well he gets all the praise and if he is not doing well I have to tell him. I had one approach and I said I’d rather die than sell him.”

Ferguson confirmed that United would not be signing another forward this summer. “We made an inquiry about a striker not so long ago,” the United manager said. “The club concerned would not sell and it remains that way. With a week to the transfer deadline, it would be impossible to get anyone else in now.”

Tottenham visit United with Jol’s position under intense scrutiny after the club’s poor start to the season, although three points promises to be just as important to the champions after their own faltering start to the campaign, in which they already trail Chelsea by five points.

United’s title defence is not the only thing on the mind of Ferguson, however. The United manager claimed last night that he fears the day a supporter might try to attack him in the dugout during a game.

“I think you need to look at the nature of supporters to understand it [abuse] is an issue and why security has to be absolutely 100 per cent,” Ferguson said. “You can’t have situations where supporters lean over the dugout and round corners and spit. That has happened in the past but nowadays it’s too dangerous.

“The verbal stuff is not a problem. You just worry if some idiot does go a step further. That’s your problem.”

Ferguson, meanwhile, has said that United are looking into the possibility that Liverpool made an illegal approach for Gabriel Heinze, the Argentina defender, who joined Real Madrid this week after an acrimonious attempt to move from Old Trafford to Anfield.