”Dimitar was a player I really rated a lot,” Stoichkov told us. “I was with him in the national team. He’s a very humble, down-to-earth guy, a real fighter and someone who made history in Bulgarian football. He played for CSKA Sofia at a very young age, and then he moved to Bayer Leverkusen and then on to Tottenham. And then, of course, to United.
”Step by step, he gradually became a great player. For me, Dimitar was a role model for other young Bulgarian players - Stiliyan Petrov, Martin Petrov, Valeri Bojinov.
”That crop of youngsters who left to play in English football.