DIMITAR BERBATOV has revealed he would consider a shock new career with David de Gea.
Berbatov and De Gea's Manchester United careers overlapped by one year in the 2011-12 season, with the Bulgarian ending his four-year spell at the club immediately after.
De Gea, 32, remained at Old Trafford for more than a decade, only being released this summer and remains without a club despite winning the Premier League Golden Glove last season.
However, he has not spent this time sitting idly by, posting clips of himself in training and sharing pics of his venture into eSports.
De Gea founded eSports team Rebels Gaming in 2021, and has seen Bruno Fernandes and Juan Mata join him as shareholders.
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And speaking exclusively to SunSport, Betfair Ambassador Berbatov revealed he would consider going down the path himself.
He said: "That's an interesting idea. I need to build around myself because I'm always playing that game (EA Sports FC, formerly FIFA), you know.
"I am 42 but I still play the game on PlayStation and it relaxes me in a way. But it's an interesting idea. [I have] never thought about it to be honest.
"Because you need to get a plan in your head on how to do it. You [need to] have a good place around you and build a brand.
"I will check what De Gea is doing to be honest and see how things are going for him."
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SunSport exclusively revealed Man Utd are considering a shock U-turn to recruit De Gea on a short-term deal when Andre Onana goes to the Africa Cup of Nations with Cameroon in the New Year.
Onana could miss as many as eight games and with back-up Altay Bayindir thus far an unproven asset, Erik ten Hag could eye a return to a more tried and trusted method.
Back on the subject of eSports, Berbatov - who scored 56 goals in 149 games for United - added: "I know a lot of players are doing the same. Since the football games are popular.
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"Everybody's playing these. So you at least if you know how you can take advantage [then you can] build a team."
The two-time Premier League champion is right in saying other footballers have invested into eSports teams.
Fellow Red Devils star Casemiro has his own team with Case eSports.
Jesse Lingard has JLINGZ eSports, while other ex-Prem stars including Cesar Azpilicueta, Sergio Aguero, Aymeric Laporte, Thibaut Courtois, Gerard Pique and Ruud Gullit also have teams of their own.
Virgil van Dijk is another current Prem star who owns an eSports team.
This trend has not been ignored by David Beckham either, who co-founded Guild eSports in 2020.
*For more from Betfair Ambassador Dimitar Berbatov head to www.betting.betfair.com/football/dimitar-berbatov/
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