Dimitar Berbatov wants Manchester United to keep hold of Romelu Lukaku despite the player's desire to quit the club for Italy.
Lukaku is intent on moving to Serie A this summer, with Juventus and Inter Milan both interested in acquiring his services.
United remain in dialogue with Juve over a possible swap deal involving Lukaku and the Argentine forward Paulo Dybala, while Inter had a £54million bid for Belgium's record scorer rejected in July.
However, Berbatov rates Lukaku and believes he still has a role to play at United, despite Ole Gunnar Solskjaer favouring Marcus Rashford over the Belgium international.
"I said it before and I will repeat it, I am a fan of his and I think he is unfairly criticised most of the time," Berbatov told Sky Sports.
"For me I think he can stay, when you know your team-mates you know how to play with them and how to make them look good.
"So you need to know your strong side and keep to that. I hope he can stay because he can give a lot more to the team."
Lukaku has agreed to join Juventus but his move hinges on whether Dybala wants to move in the other direction.
Dybala, 25, earns €7.5million per year at Juve and is believed to be demanding a wage hike to €10m net per year in order to accept a move to United.
