The Italian giants have turned to Berbatov after giving up any hopes of buying Chelsea's Didier Drogba and see the Bulgarian international as the man to revive their fortunes.
Milan have helped their cause by overtaking Fiorentina in Serie A to move into the top four and the final Champions League place, with just two games to go.
It looks set to be a summer of fervent activity at White Hart Lane as boss Juande Ramos bids to build on this season's Carling Cup victory.
Spurs slumped in the Premier League after their win at Wembley over Chelsea and can now only finish as high as 10th - a position Ramos will not accept next year.
The Spanish manager is also preparing to raid his former club Sevilla for their brilliant left winger Diego Capel. In addition, Spurs may also renew their interest in Portsmouth midfielder Lassana Diarra, having missed out on him during the January transfer window.
Berbatov is desperate to play in Europe's premier club competition and was noticeably absent from the official launch of Tottenham's new kit last night and didn't play at Reading at the weekend, although the club insisted that was due to a groin strain.
Ramos will move for 20-year-old Capel as soon as the season ends and could capitalise on the buy-out clause in his contract. That clause is directly linked to Capel's wages and how many times his contract has been re-negotiated.
The buy-out price began at £9.5m but once he'd played 40 first-team games, a target he reached against Murcia last month, the price rose by £2m.
Spurs can pay the fee directly to the Spanish league and then negotiate with Capel and his agents without ever involving Sevilla.
