INEOS have made a statement and how! David Ornstein reports that Manchester United have appointed Omar Berrada as their new Chief Executive Officer who comes from Manchester City.
Berrada will take leadership of both, the football and commercial sides. It is surprising, considering Glazers still control the commercial side of operations. Therefore, it was expected that the appointment would be made with Glazers’ backing.
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Man Utd to name Man City’s Omar Berrada as new CEO. Led by INEOS with Glazer backing. Will take exec leadership of football + business, seat on board + report to owners. Highly regarded & many will see as major coup @TheAthleticFC #MUFC #MCFC https://t.co/qEAfDwFZIi
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) January 20, 2024
So, who is Omar Berrada and why is his appointment such a coup for the club beyond poaching from one of their big rivals? Here are all the details-
Who is Omar Berrada?
Omar Berrada is a highly-regarded executive in the football world who was recently heading City Football Group’s operations. CFG owns Manchester City as well as a number of clubs across the world.
He joined Manchester City in 2011 as Head of International Business Development. Since then, he has performed various roles for the club including Director of Partnership Sales, as Vice President of Group Commerical Director, before becoming the COO in September 2016.
He finally became the CEO in September 2020, holding that post for nearly three years and now he begins his journey at the rivals.
Before leading Manchester City’s expansion efforts, he was FC Barcelona’s Head of Sponsorship for for seven years from 2004 to 2011, having also performed the role of a Media Business Development manager.
As can be seen from his litany of roles, Omar Berrada comes with full expertise of running a football club as well as growing its brand off the field.
Jean-Claude Blanc was expected to be named the CEO of Manchester United but it speaks volumes about INEOS’ need for specialisation that they have made an appointment of a person who has been there, and done it all.
Omar Berrada at Manchester United
As per David Ornstein’s initial details, Berrada is set to get a seat on the newly rejigged board and will report to the new owners.
He will take the place of Patrick Steward, a Glazer man who had been serving as the interim CEO after Richard Arnold resigned from his post a few months ago.
Considering his job remit at City consisted of leading everything from player transactions, and data analytics, to scouting for talent, and maximising their growth, while growing off the field, it is a major coup for United.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is set to supplement this hiring by hiring a transfer/recruitment specialist who could be Paul Mitchell or Dougie Freedman, among others.
What this hiring does is rule out Dan Ashworth’s candidacy because the current Newcastle executive would have only come for a similar remit of the job at Old Trafford.
A statement to The Athletic from the City Football Group read:
“Manchester City Football Club can confirm that Omar Berrada has resigned from his role as chief football operations officer at City Football Group.
“The club understands his decision to look for a new challenge and he leaves with our thanks and best wishes.”