Man City chief involved in Erling Haaland transfer approached by Premier League club, MLS teams, major NFL franchise

The Chief Football Operations Officer at Manchester City has been subject to top-level interest from across the globe for chief executive roles, according to a new report.

That name is Omar Berrada – who originally joined the project at Manchester City from FC Barcelona in September 2011, taking on the role of Head of International Business Development after his time as Head of Sponsorship at the Camp Nou.

Since then, it has been a steady rise within the hierarchy at Manchester City, spending over a year as the club’s Director of Partnership Sales, Senior VP Group Commercial Director, before taking on the role of Chief Operating Officer in September 2016 and leaving the position four years later.

In September 2020, Berrada transitioned from the role of Chief Operating Officer to the position of Chief Football Operations Officer for the City Football Group and Manchester City Football Group.

Now however, that rise within the east Manchester organisation has attracted attention from a number of major clubs across the globe as they seek to recruit from the heart of City’s hugely successful operation.

According to a new report from David Ornstein for The Athletic, multiple ‘industry sources’ have revealed that Omar Berrada has now been approached by a Premier League club, teams in the MLS, and a major NFL franchise for chief executive roles.

However, in a significant boost for Manchester City and a sign of commitment towards the ongoing Etihad Stadium project, it has been clarified that all such moves were rejected by Berrada.

Interestingly for Manchester City supporters in particular, Berrada works closely with the club’s Director of Football Txiki Begiristain on a number of areas, including transfer negotiations and contract discussions.

Omar Berrada also worked on the signing of Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund last summer, and is expected to play a role in any transfer activity across the course of the coming months.

Interest in Berrada comes at a time when a number of other staff members at Manchester City have also been targeted, with several of those securing moves away, namely Joe Shields and Jason Wilcox – both of whom moved to Southampton, with the former then joining Chelsea.