Manchester City’s late attempt to retain top official from Manchester United’s grasp revealed

A new report has revealed that Manchester City made late attempts to retain the services of Omar Berrada from the grasps of Manchester United earlier this year.

Berrada brought an end to his stay at Manchester City and his role as Chief Football Operations Officer at the Etihad Stadium, entering a period of gardening leave before linking up with cross-town rivals Manchester United in the summer.

The now-former Manchester City chief has long been highly-rated within the sports industry, while many within the Etihad Stadium fought to retain Berrada from interest over in the United States and particularly the NFL franchises.

However, the opportunity to become Manchester United’s new Chief Executive Officer and a natural promotion within top-level football was too good to turn down, despite City’s best efforts to keep him, a new report has revealed.

According to the information of The Times’ Paul Hirst, Manchester City made attempts to persuade Omar Berrada to remain at the Etihad Stadium, however his mind was already ‘made up’ with regards to the offer made to him by Manchester United to become their new CEO.

The report further reveals that when the official announcement was made on January 20, only ‘a handful of people knew in advance’, while most of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City backroom staff and players were ‘unaware’ of the switch.

While many saw the move as controversial on social media, the report details that only a ‘tiny minority’ viewed Omar Berrada’s switch to Manchester United as ‘an act of treachery’, with most staff having a ‘pragmatic’ view of the decision.

For now, Manchester City are continuing with their existing team of officials who have brought so much success to the football club, spearheaded by the likes of Ferran Soriano and Khaldoon Al Mubarak in particular.

Txiki Begiristain and his sports-focussed colleagues within the City Football Academy are also continuing to work as normal on transfer business, despite Berrada’s role alongside the club’s sporting director when it came to player recruitment and sales.