United have clear stance on “Lionel Messi of business world” ahead of huge summer of action – The Athletic

Manchester United have undergone a sea change in almost every department over the last two years. Omar Berrada One of the most important changes has been the appointment of CEO Omar Berrada, who previously worked for FC Barcelona and Manchester City. He has already had to oversee some massive decisions, such as the sacking of sporting director Dan Ashworth and the hiring and firing of Ruben Amorim in less than 14 months. Berrada, alongside current director of football Jason Wilcox, will also have a huge decision to make over the coming months regarding who they will appoint as the club’s permanent manager. Sack fears The Athletic took a deep dive into Berrada’s time at United so far and revealed that after recent decisions taken by Berrada, many of his former colleagues at City feared that, “having wielded the axe at United, the sharp end could soon be swinging in his direction.” Nonetheless, this has been denied by sources close to United. The article reports that “such concerns are misplaced.” Man United owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, is said to have always been impressed with Berrada and he is believed to be “the man entrusted with seeing through this transformation.” Such belief in Berrada stems from what seems to be the club’s most successful transfer window in years, with the purchases of Belgian Senne Lammens, Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko. What’s more, his hiring back in 2024 was viewed as “a coup” and United consider him “someone who intimately knew what elite standards looked like.” Berrada’s ability to speak English, Spanish, French, Catalan and Moroccan Arabic is seen as incredibly useful when dealing with agents and clubs. As The Athletic put it, “it would be difficult to find someone better connected than him in the game, and this means he has intimate knowledge of the transfer market and what United should be getting for their money.” As one colleague joked, Berrada was viewed as “the Lionel Messi of the commercial world.” Final Thoughts United have certainly improved in the transfer window, but after the debacles of Ruben Amorim and Dan Ashworth, Berrada and company will need to make sure they get the next call on the permanent manager right or his position as CEO may not be so comfortable anymore. The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.