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Manchester United have announced the appointment of Omar Berrada as the club’s new chief executive with the official crossing the divide from rivals Manchester City.
Berrada has resigned from his position as City’s chief football operations officer to take up the role at Old Trafford.
The 46-year-old’s appointment has been driven by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS team, who have agreed a 25 per cent stake of the club.
Berrarda marks the first significant appointment by the Ratcliffe regime since the deal, which will see Ineos take charge of Manchester United’s football operations.
‘The Club is determined to put football and performance on the pitch back at the heart of everything we do,’ a Man United statement read. ‘Omar’s appointment represents the first step on this journey.
‘It is our stated ambition to re-establish Manchester United as a title-winning club.
‘We are pleased that Omar will be joining us to help achieve that goal, so that, once again, United fans can see, in the words of Sir Matt Busby, the red flag flying high at the summit of English, European and world football.’
Berrarda succeeds Richard Arnold who left Man United in December, with lawyer Patrick Stewart serving in the role on an interim basis since.
The Moroccan, who was born in Paris, has been involved in football since joining Barcelona back in 2004.
Berrada had initially planned to pursue a career in engineering after coming through an American schooling system in Morocco. He dropped out of his university course in Massachusetts after six months after concluding the subject was not for him.
Speaking in a 2020 interview with the EU Business School, Berrarda revealed an ambition to travel to Europe led him to studying at the institution.
Berrarda opted for Barcelona for the final year of his three-year course in part due to his support of the Catalan giants, concluding he could learn Spanish and watch good football during 18 months in the city.
After an internship at Honda, he joined the internet provider Tiscali at the start of the internet boom, where he met his wife. His former boss at Tiscali later headhunted Berrarda as Barcelona expanded their marketing department in 2004, citing a need for his particular skill set. –Daily Mail.
Online Reporter