The most shocking off-field coup in Manchester’s recent history came in December when Dave Brailsford polled industry insiders and asked them who they thought would make the best CEO.
There was one name that kept coming up: Omar Berrada. It’s safe to assume this isn’t a new name for Brailsford, who knows the Manchester scene well throughout his sporting career, but these conversations have been hard to ignore.
Brailsford has been told that Berrada is leaving his role as Manchester City’s director of football for a bigger club such as Real Madrid or Manchester United. That’s why he thought it was worth asking. An approach was made, a meeting was arranged and Brailsford met him to Berrada’s surprise. There were other meetings with Sir Jim Ratcliffe, but the most important final meeting took place in Monaco between Berrada, Brailsford, Ratcliffe and most importantly Joel and Avram Glaser.
Berrada was identified and pursued by United’s new minority owners INEOS, who have control of the sport, and was eventually persuaded to leave City, The Athletic exclusively reported when news of his appointment broke on Saturday night. But Berrada had to impress the Glazers because the final say on such big decisions always rests with the majority of shareholders.
