Berbatov was surprisingly omitted from manager Sir Alex Ferguson's squad for Saturday's Champions League final defeat to Barcelona at Wembley. It has raised huge question marks of the Bulgarian's Old Trafford future and many wondered whether the 30-year-old would be in Manchester on Monday morning for an open-topped bus journey from the city centre to Stretford. However, Berbatov was amongst the squad that assembled at Manchester Arena this morning, along with the rest of Ferguson's squad. In keeping with the mood of gloom that followed Saturday's defeat, grey skies opened overnight and the rain poured as United made their way down Deansgate. Along with Berbatov, Paul Scholes and Michael Owen were also present despite huge uncertainty over their futures. Owen's contract has expired and so far there has been no announcement on the possibility of an extension, even though the 31-year-old has confirmed he would love to stay on. Scholes has been offered a one-year extension but has refused to confirm whether he wants to accept it or not. Indeed, there has been speculation in some quarters that Scholes has already decided to leave but was persuaded by Ferguson to remain silent in order not to disturb preparations for Saturday's game. Republic of Ireland international John O'Shea, who also missed out on a place on the bench against Barca, claimed the parade would help his team-mates get over their defeat. "With the weather, we wondered if anyone would turn out," he told MUTV. "We never should have doubted it. "It makes you realise how important this club is to people and will help the players get over what happened on Saturday." Owen once again confirmed his desire to remain at Old Trafford and claimed Saturday's defeat should not be allowed to put a dampener on the season as a whole. "When you start every season, the first objective is to win the league," he said. "What happened at the weekend should not be allowed to detract from that. "I have loved every minute; we have great players, great staff, great manager and great fans. Hopefully it can continue." England striker Wayne Rooney has already set his sights on securing title number 20. "Winning the league is a massive achievement," he said. "We have to forget about what happened on Saturday and move on. "The idea now is to win the 20th. We will be fighting hard to make sure we are there again next season." Meanwhile, Scholes was giving little away about his future. "Reaching 19 titles is not something you ever think about. All you want to do is win something," he said. "To go on like we have done is a great achievement. Now we want to stretch our lead even more. "The challenge will always be to get the next one. This one is out of the way now. We will celebrate it today, have a nice summer, then think about winning the next one."
