The injury that Manchester United‘s Bulgarian  forward Dimitar Berbatov picked up during his team’s unfortunate game against Crystal Palace on Wednesday is not as grave as initially believed, Sir Alex Ferguson has announced.

“Berbatov’s injury isn’t serious,” Ferguson  has said, as cited by the Red Devils’ official website.

“He got injured the week before. We’ve been getting a few injuries but it happens. At the moment, we’re going through a spell where we’re getting a few a week but we have to get on with it.”

Berbatov is to miss this weekend’s match at Aston Villa due to the ankle injury he sustained against the Eagles, but he is not expected to be away for a longer period.

The Bulgarian striker still struggles to find his way back into Manchester United‘s starting 11, as he faces tough competition from the likes of Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez.

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Bulgarian football legend Hristo Stoichkov has been appointed as Russian squad Rostov‘s sporting director.

Stoichkov is expected to officially become the team’s manager in 2012, Russian media have reported, as cited by the Bulgarian Topsport.

Currently, Bulgarian national team midfielder Chavdar Yankov is playing at Rostov.

Stoichkov is the most internationally renowned Bulgarian footbal player, a winner of the World Cup Golden Boot and the Golden Ball, both in 1994.

He played for Barcelona FC in 1990-1995 as part of Johan Cruyff’s ‘Dream Team’.

Stoichkov, who managed rather unsuccessfully Bulgaria between 2004 and 2007, last worked as a coach at the South African team Mamelodi Sundowns.

The former striker was recently appointed honorary Consul in Barcelona by Bulgarian Prime Minister and a friend of his, Boyko Borisov. Borisov recently denied allegations that he might endorse the famous forward for President.

Portuguese giants Sporting officially confirmed that they have completed the signing of Parma‘s unsettled Bulgarian striker Valeri Bojinov.

The Bulgaria international has signed a five-year contract with Sporting after the two clubs agreed on a EUR 2.6 M bid for 80% of the player’s economic rights. The fee could rise to EUR 3.5 M depending upon the club’s performances.

The 25-year-old, who has also played for Fiorentina, Juventus and Manchester City, will wear the number seven shirt for the Lisbon side.

“I am an aggressive player on the pitch. I like and want to score goals. Sporting must always play to win. Only win and do their best,” he said upon his arrival in Lisbon.

The 25-year-old Bulgarian striker, one of Bulgaria‘s top football hopes, has had sporadic success at Parma recently, leading Bulgaria‘s national coach Lothar Mattheaus to criticize his performance.

The deal also involves yielding Jaime Valdes to the Italians.

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Manchester United have not offered their Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov a new contract, according to Berbatov’s agent Emil Danchev.

United have not even indicated that they might consider offering Berba an extention of his contract, which expires in one year, Danchev told gold.com, casting an even greater shadow over Berbatov’s future in the top English Premiership team.

Berbatov’s agent has further admitted that the star striker’s future remains undecided, and that he is not in contact with Manchester United‘s executive director David Gill, and manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

“We will know more after we have talks with United but Berbatov wants to stay and to keep winning tropheys,” Danchev said.

He revealed that Tottenham Spurs, Bayern Munich, and a number of teams from Spain, France, and Turkey are interested in getting Berbatov.

Japan‘s World League volleyball games against Bulgaria, Germany and Russia have been moved to the respective country over nuclear fears following the disaster in Fukushima.

Japan‘s Pool B opponents have informed the country’s Volleyball Association they will not travel to Japan after the government raised its nuclear crisis at its stricken Fukushima plant to the same level as Chernobyl following last month’s deadly earthquake and massive tsunami.

Bulgaria was scheduled to play Japan on June 25 and 26 in Wakayama. Japan‘s games against Germany was to take place on June 11 and 12 in Saitama and against Russia – in Nagasaki on June 18 and 19.

In Bulgaria the game will be hosted by the Black Sea town of Varna.

Bulgaria’s top male tennis player Grigor Dimitrov has dropped out of the prestigious USD 1.6 M Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship in UAE.

The 19-year-old Bulgarian tennis star entered the main draw, but was defeated in the first round by Richard Gasquet from France, who currently ranks 31st in the world.

For participating in the first round, Dimitrov will receive USD 11 370. However, he will not gain any ATP ranking points and will be left only with the 20 points he gained for his victories in the qualifications for the tournament.

Earlier on Monday, it was announced that the Bulgarian tennis star has reached another record-high position at the ATP ranking and currently holds the 81st position.

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Bulgaria’s star striker of Manchester United has been declared top European football performer for January 2011 by Castrol Rankings.

Dimitar Berbatov (ranked 5th overall) won the Castrol EDGE Performance of the Month prize for January after he netted his third hat-trick of the Premier League season against Birmingham City, earning him 2 251 points.

Castrol Rankings, he world’s first rankings based on the actual performance of every football player across Europe’s top five leagues, says that with just a few months left in the season, will be looking to equal the record of most hat-tricks in a single Premier League campaign: five scored by the then-Blackburn Rovers striker Alan Shearer in the 1995-1996 season.

According to Castrol Rankings, during Manchester United‘s game against Birmingham City Berbatov was in scintillating form, opening the scoring after only 92 seconds. His two other goals also came from inside the box to help Manchester United keep hold of top spot. On a flawless day, he completed three out of every four passes in the final third of the pitch and was successful with all three dribbles he attempted.