Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov learned only yesterday of a kidnapping plot targeting his mother.

Berbatov has been rocked ahead of Tuesday night's Champions League clash against FC Basle after discovering a man was arrested by Bulgarian police for allegedly plotting to kidnap his mother.

The £30million Manchester United striker's 51-year-old mother Margarita received a callous email warning her she would be abducted unless a significant sum of money was handed over in exchange for her safety, according to a report in The Sun.

Authorities in Blagoevgrad, the home town where the 30-year-old star was raised by his nurse mother who still lives there, swooped on 38-year-old suspect Petar Antonov after IT experts allegedly traced the email to his home computer.

Police are now said to be investigating whether the threat was politically motivated with Berbatov's mother an activist for the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party.