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Anastasia Balezdrova

The first match of the Greek football championship involving lead striker Dimitar Berbatov will be on 13 September at Veria stadium, where PAOK will play against the eponymous team.

Meanwhile, late last night it became clear that the Thessaloniki team had still managed to index Berbatov for participation in the Europa League. Therefore, his first match in it will coincide with his debut at Tumba stadium, where PAOK will host Azerbaijan’s Gabala team.

After his official presentation to the fans yesterday, the Bulgarian striker had his first training session with his new teammates who have their training sessions at PAOK sports centre near Nea Mesemvria. An interesting fact is that it was founded by Greek settlers who left Nessebar under the bilateral agreement on the exchange of populations between Greece and Bulgaria in the early 20th century.

Earlier Berbatov gave an interview to PAOK TV in exclusive. In it, he again thanked the fans for their enthusiastic reception and team owner Ivan Savidis for his insistence to join PAOK.

"The past few days were a bit ‘crazy’ but now I am here and what I must do is go to the stadium, train and score goals so that all are happy," said Berbatov.

Asked about the insistence by Savidis, he said, "Sometimes it takes someone to convince you that a particular place is special. The coach is young, I have played against him and I know him well. The team is good and I in turn could offer different things to the young players, such as maturity and advice." He urged his teammates to achieve "something special" on occasion of PAOK’s 90th anniversary this year.

According to Berbatov, it takes a love of football and to fight constantly to be a good footballer. "I love football. The only thing I have been doing in my entire life is playing football. And the desire to play more is increasing with age. Therefore, I will try to play as much as possible and offer the fans a spectacular game."

The goals that Berbatov has set for next year are to have a positive impact on the team and help his young colleagues and the coach with his goals and mode of play. "Of course, it would be fantastic if we could win a title for the team on the eve of the 90th anniversary of its creation."

Commenting on defining PAOK fans as "brothers" Berbatov reiterated that his father’s birthplace is very close to Thessaloniki and that he already feels at home in the city.

After the training session, Dimitar Berbatov returned to Blagoevgrad, where he had family commitments. He arrived in Thessaloniki in his Bentley, with his manager Emil Danchev and daughter Elia. Berbatov will join his new team again on Saturday.