Omar Berrada: MUFC’s new CEO
Big news at Old Trafford
It seems that INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe have made their first big move at Man Utd after swooping the now resigned Man City Chief Football Operations Officer Omar Berrada.
There was a lot of speculation about who could succeed the now departed Richard Arnold as CEO of United with Jean-Claude Blanc being one of the men thought to take up the role.
But Omar Berrada is now the man to take up that helm vacated by Arnold.
The deal to bring in Berrada was led by INEOS and backed up by the Glazer’s. The new Man Utd CEO will “take executive leadership of football, business, a seat on board, and report to owners” — David Ornstein via ManUtdReports.
Omar Berrada previously worked at Barcelona for 8 years and dealt with the sponsorship and media rights overseeing a successful period for the club.
Berrada is the man who negotiates difficult partnerships when it comes to the major brands and companies. He also speaks five languages after having lived in six different countries.
Omar overlooks close to 100 teams across 11 clubs which are located on five different continents. Overlooking such a vast area requires Berrada to do several different jobs such as player transactions, sports science, scouting, data analytics, generating value for the group and more.
Overall, Berrada has over 20 years of senior-level experience in football with 5 years in telecommunications.
The City Football Group have described Omar as:
“Omar Berrada is Chief Football Operations Officer at City Football Group.
“Prior to this Omar was Chief Operating Officer of Manchester City Football Club, having been promoted in September 2016 from Commercial Director for City Football Marketing.
“Omar worked at FC Barcelona for almost eight years, as a Senior Media Business Development Manager and as the Head of Sponsorship, during a very successful era for the Catalan club. Omar’s expertise in sponsorship and media rights reflects 11 years of senior-level experience in the sports industry and five years in the telecommunications sector with the companies Tiscali and World Online. He has a track record in negotiating complex and innovative partnerships with leading brands and companies.
Having lived in six different countries, Omar is multilingual, speaking five languages.” via UtdDistrict.
In that Athletic article, Omar Berrada turned down CEO positions at another Premier League side, MLS teams and a major franchise in the NFL but did agree to be the new Man Utd CEO.
He is very highly regarded in the football world when it comes to all these off-field matters.
Read David Ornstein’s report on him in The Athletic article above.
Final Thoughts
Ngl, this is a pretty conflicting one.
On the one hand, yeah, to sort of ‘one up’ City is always a great thing because of the rivalry and Berrada certainly has the pedigree and CV of a top football CEO,
but on the other, I’m kind of disappointed and dubious for a couple of reasons:
I really wanted Jean-Claude Blanc to be our CEO. Having seen what he’s done not just in football but sport overall, he was very impressive. The fact that he’s also been working for INEOS in recent years made this move make sense. It’s a bit unfortunate that he isn’t the new CEO from my point of view.
Secondly, why would Berrada leave City for us?
We suck, in every way possible especially compared to our neighbours. The blue half of Manchester has seen a lot of success since Berrada’s appointment in 2011 both on and off the field.
Why would he leave that even more so after their most successful season ever?
Does he want to get out before anything happens with the 115 charges? Perhaps he’s not involved at all and those charges won’t affect this move but it all seems a little convenient if you ask me.
I suppose Omar Berrada may simply want to challenge himself just like that Athletic article says️. The reasons for his sudden resignation at City to join United as the new CEO is a major surprise.
We always knew that recruitment was to be super important under Ratcliffe and I must say, regardless of those suspicions of mine, this is a big move. I like the fact that it’s also happened quite soon after Sir Jim’s 25% takeover. To be doing such a deal and so fast is a massive positive.
He has a lot to offer when looking at what he’s done and let’s hope he can help bring United back to where we belong.
An intriguing deal indeed.
But why heck do they have to keep announcing these major moves at the worst times?! INEOS deal on Christmas Eve and now this on a Saturday night! C’mon guys 🤦♂️.
There is still soooooo much more news on this move and on Berrada that will come out I’m sure. This is only the beginning.
#INEOS #mufc #ggmu #mancity #OmarBerrada #GlazersOut
