Will Omar Berrada attend Manchester City against Manchester United after CEO switch?

A new report has detailed the position taken by Omar Berrada ahead of the weekend’s Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium, just weeks after his cross-town switch.

The Premier League champions confirmed towards the back-end of January that Berrada would be bringing an end to his time with Manchester City, by joining Manchester United and taking up the role of CEO at Old Trafford.

A statement read, “Manchester City can confirm Omar Berrada has resigned from his role as Chief Football Operations Officer at City Football Group. The club understand his decision to look for a new challenge and he leaves with our thanks and best wishes.”

Now, with Manchester City taking on Berrada’s new employers for the first time since the shock switch was confirmed earlier this year, the question as to whether the former Etihad employee will be in attendance at the contest has been answered in fresh reports this week.

According to the information of MailSport’s Jack Gaughan, Omar Berrada – who is currently on gardening leave until the summer of 2024 – will not be in attendance at Sunday afternoon’s Manchester derby between City and United at the Etihad Stadium.

While City are disappointed to see Berrada leave the club given the successful role he played since first arriving, and his relationships with the club’s hierarchy, it is widely believed that those within the Etihad Stadium remain confident in their existing team of officials.

However, while Berrada may be leaving the highly-successful operation at Manchester City for their bitter cross-town rivals, the feeling privately within the official himself is that those at the Etihad Stadium will continue to dominate European football for years to come.

A recent report from the Athletic highlighted the difficulty of Berrada’s decision to leave Manchester City, with Berrada himself reportedly telling one friend that it “was the toughest (decision) he has ever had to make in his life”.