21 January 2024 , 10:32
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Manchester United have landed a major coup by poaching Omar Berrada from Manchester City - but the Red Devils' new chief executive has his work cut out.
While Berrada has been busy playing a significant role in City's rise on the blue side of Manchester, United have been in decline.
A major factor in United's downturn in fortunes has been poor recruitment: not only have the club overpaid in the market for numerous players, plenty of their acquisitions have massively underwhelmed.
Howeer, the arrival of Ineos chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who is poised to assume control of the club's sporting operations, has sparked hopes that a new era could be on the horizon at Old Trafford.
It's been outlined that Ratcliffe and his team have already identified issues within recruitment at the club- and Berrada has already made his feelings on the importance of sticking to valuations in transfer negoations clear.
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Berrada was in situ at City when they tried to sign Harry Maguire from Leicester City. The England defender eventually moved to United for a £80million fee long after the Premier League champions had walked away from talks.
In an interview with The Athletic back in 2020, Berrada said of the deal: “In terms of Harry Maguire, we have shown very clearly over the last few seasons that we will only go for a transfer if we feel it is the right valuation. So we look at the player’s quality, age, experience, what he can bring to the team, and then decide the correct valuation.
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Berrada and Manchester City walked away from a deal from Harry Maguire, who later joined United (Matt West/REX/Shutterstock)“If we feel it’s the right one, we will do it. If not, we will walk away from the deal and look for other candidates. But at the same time, if we walk away from a certain deal, it doesn’t mean we necessarily have to go for another player to fill that position. We will only get the players that we feel will improve our squad and make a significant contribution.”
While Berrada's influence should significantly improve the way Manchester United's operate in the transfer market, but they will face a long wait before they can tap into it.
Mirror Football understands that City's chief football operations officer must serve a lengthy notice period before crossing to the red half of Manchester - meaning he is unlikely to take up his new post until the 2024/25 campaign as begun.
The Spaniard has spent almost 13 years working within the City Football Group and prior to that had held roles at Barcelona. Manchester United's interim CEO Patrick Stewart will continue in his post until Berrada officially joins the club.