News of Omar Berrada leaving Manchester City to become the new CEO at Manchester United certainly came right out of the blue – and a report has now shared what the reaction was of the players.
Berrada is currently on gardening leave, and will take up his new position in the summer.
Berrada had held a senior role within the City Football Group since 2020, having previously been head of international business development, director of partnership sales and then senior vice president group commercial director.
City have enjoyed a hugely successful period over the last decade or so and Berrada had been a big contributor behind the scenes, and news of his exit has come as a real surprise – and a report has now revealed how the City players reacted to the bombshell…
Manchester City players left ‘shocked’ by Omar Berrada news while out in Abu Dhabi
The Athletic have produced a detailed article about Berrada and his defection to the red side of Manchester, with the theme of the piece being that there was actually shock on both sides.
United’s approach for Berrada was so discreet, it is said that ‘senior figures at Old Trafford did not know about it until learning the story was about to be broken by The Athletic on Saturday afternoon, after which an emergency leadership meeting was called’.
The news eventually broke on Saturday, after Berrada had ‘agonised’ over the decision, and it actually came as a major surprise for many people at City.
The Athletic say that none of the players knew what was coming, and that they were all shocked by the news. Staff were also shocked, with there being ‘next to no suspicions that Berrada was about to jump ship’.
It is stated though that Pep Guardiola, Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain all knew what was coming, having been informed days prior. Their feelings about Berrada’s departure have not yet been revealed, but Pep will surely be asked about it in his press conference ahead of the game with Tottenham Hotspur.
City will be fine despite Berrada exit
City losing Berrada is definitely a blow, but the infrastructure is in place now and City still have a 130-person-strong football operations department.
The club will continue to be well run after Berrada. The frustration though is that he has gone to United, who have been in clear need of a top executive for years now.
After years of United being in the wilderness, Berrada will go there and provide them with direction and ultimately, the appointment has the potential to get them back to where they once were.
There is still a huge amount of work to do at United before they can even think about getting back to the top of English football again, but starting by appointing Berrada as CEO is a positive step for them.
