The ongoing story regarding Manchester City and the 114 financial breaches has a couple of side plots that involve cross-town rivals Manchester United, including the shared history of one particular executive.
Current United CEO Omar Berrada was part of the Manchester City hierarchy for more than a decade, a time which overlapped with the majority of the time for which City was investigated. Now that a guilty verdict was reached, United should take a serious look at whether or not Berrada can be trusted
to operate a clean ship.
Samuel Luckhurst reported that Omar Berrada is confident he “will not be affected by the outcome of Manchester City’s Premier League charges,” and has “privately” insisted he will not be implicated in any alleged breaches that the Blues will face as a result of the guilty verdict.
However, given Berrada’s former positions at City, it’s hard to expect he had little or no knowledge of the financial dealings that led to the breaches.
Berrada first joined City in 2011, three years after the Abu Dhabi United Group bought the club. He was previously at Barcelona, where he worked with Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain, both of whom he would work with at City as well with Pep Guardiola as manager.
Berrada’s titles at Manchester City included overseeing the international business department and regional partnerships, then Director of Partnerships. In 2016 he was named the Chief Operating Officer, and in 2020 he was named Chief Football Operations Officer.
According to an article in The Athletic from 2024, the 2020 appointment was Berrada’s first shift away from the commercial side of the club. The investigation into Manchester City’s financial breaches only covered dealings from 2009-2018, which includes the majority of the time Berrada spent overseeing business partnerships and commercial revenue.
United officials have already explored the possibility of legal action against Manchester City in pursuit of damages for the period in question. That entire period included Berrada in significant leadership roles at City, in which the club brought in £949.9m attributable to Abu-Dhabi based sponsors. That was about 70% of the club’s commercial revenue in that time period.
The degree to which Berrada was involved may not be known, but his history with City was already a question mark for fans upon his arrival in 2024. The role that it played in City taking over the game domestically is not in question, and United fans who feel uneasy about his joining the club after what happened at City have plenty of ground to stand on. There should be skepticism from the club leadership as well.
