Atletico Madrid sporting director Andrea Berta
Andrea Berta signed Julian Alvarez from Manchester City last summer
Manchester United are reputedly evaluating Atletico Madrid sporting director Andrea Berta as a potential successor to departing sporting director Dan Ashworth.
Berta is said to have been considered by the club this time last year as a possible head of recruitment. Tottenham Hotspur were also reportedly interested before appointing Johan Lange as their new technical director.
Paris Saint-Germain also previously pursued Berta in 2017, but he remained at Atletico and went from being their technical director to the sporting director. However, after 11 years in the Spanish capital, the Italian seems set to leave at the end of this season.
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GianlucaDiMarzio.com claims that will be the case and adds that Berta is among the potential replacements for Ashworth that United are monitoring. They suggest a move may materialise over the coming months, meaning any new man would not be in place for the winter transfer window during January.
However, according to reports in France, if United were to pursue the sporting director named the best in the world at the 2019 Globe Soccer Awards, they would face competition from PSG. Their football advisor, Luis Campos, is out of contract at the end of this season and in talks over an extension.
Berta is said to be who they would turn to if Campos does depart due to the Italian's apparent closeness to PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi. Atletico already appear to be planning for the future after the arrival of Carlos Bucero as their new director of football in January and more recent links to former Spurs sporting director Ramon Planes.
Over the last decade, Berta is most synonymous with the £113 million arrival of Joao Felix. That same summer, Rodri went to Manchester City for £63 million a year after being signed from Villarreal for barely £20million. Most recently, Atletico agreed to an £82m deal with City to sign Julian Alvarez last summer.