Who is Andrea Berta? The latest figure linked with Manchester United director of football role
Manchester United's search for a director of football continues and we've profiled the latest reported candidate.
Manchester United’s ongoing hunt for a director of football saw Andrea Berta’s name emerge as a candidate this week.
The Italian, 46, holds an identical role at Atlético Madrid and has been reported as being a contender for the position alongside Roma’s Monchi and Juventus sporting director Fabio Paratici.
United’s search for a suitable candidate to form part of a restructure has come after United boss Jose Mourinho was left exasperated by the club’s transfer activity in the summer.
Mourinho was thought to have highlighted defensive reinforcements as his priority in the summer market but he was left with midfielder Fred, full-back Diogo Dalot and reserve goalkeeper Lee Grant as his only new recruits.
Former United goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar, who works as Ajax’s chief executive, ruled himself out of the running for the role.
“I have a two-year contract. Ajax is my club and I would like to stay longer,” he said.
Who is Andrea Berta?
Born in Lombardy, Italy, Andrea Berta was a banker by trade before becoming sporting director at the now-dissolved Italian side AC Carpendolo. The chance of a career change was given to him at the age of 30 by the cousin of former Italy coach, Cesare Prandelli, and his attention to detail impressed during his four-year spell at the lower-league outfit.
“Once, he told us that he had gone to South America and had been on ten fights in ten days to watch 25 players,” Carpendolo president Francesco Malpezzi later said.
It didn’t go unnoticed higher up the Italian pyramid, either, with Parma acquiring his services in 2007. Berta, who has a wife, Miriam, and a daughter, Paola, spent two years with the two-time UEFA Cup winners before becoming Genoa’s sporting director in 2009.
Three years later came his big break, when former United chief executive Peter Kenyon - who was acting as a financial director for Atlético Madrid at the time - recommended Berta's services to club president Enrique Cerezo.
Berta was initially used as a scout for the La Liga outfit but soon became more influential at the Vicente Calderón. He was credited for scouting and securing the subsequent deal for Antoine Griezmann, as well as developing a strong relationship with the agent Jorge Mendes. Mendes clients Radamel Falcao and Diego Costa came and went - and returned again, in Costa’s case - on Berta’s watch.
Berta’s success at the club was officially recognised in 2017 when he replaced José Caminero as sporting director, after PSG had offered him a reported €14 million annual salary to fulfil the role at the Ligue 1 giants.
What has he achieved at Atlético Madrid?
Perhaps Berta’s major success at Atlético, even more than overseeing the league title win in 2014 and Champions League final appearances in 2014 and 2016, has been keeping Diego Simeone in his position as manager at the club.
Simeone and Atlético chief executive Miguel Ángel Gil became increasingly estranged and were at loggerheads to the extent that Spanish press termed their relationship an ‘imminent divorce’ as it looked as though Simeone would leave the club.
But Berta acted as the pair’s go-between and smoothed over relations enough for Simeone to sign a new deal at the club in 2017, as Los Colchoneros moved into their new Wanda Metropolitano stadium.
Does he have existing links with Manchester United?
Berta saw Atlético chief scout Gerardo Guzman prised from his armoury when Mourinho took over at Old Trafford in 2016. Guzman has been United’s Spain scout during the Portuguese’s tenure.
His close ties with Jorge Mendes, Mourinho’s agent, are well known.
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