Berta has been criticised by one of his former playersplaceholder image
Berta has been criticised by one of his former players | Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Andrea Berta is not popular with one of the players he has previously overseen.
Andrea Berta has been called out for allegedly not being honest with a former Chelsea player during his time at Atletico Madrid. Berta arrived at the Emirates Stadium this year after taking over from Edu Gaspar, who left to join Nottingham Forest.
Berta has worked wonders since arriving at Arsenal, albeit with the context of being handed a relatively open chequebook, something not all of his predecessors have benefitted from.
Arsenal fans will be delighted with what Berta has done so far in North London, but not everyone is a fan of Berta. Former Atletico Madrid and Chelsea star Saúl Ñiguez has called out Berta for not dealing with his exit properly.
Saúl calls out Berta
Reflecting on his exit from Atletico after a long spell while giving an interview to Cadena SER, as cited by Diario AS, the now Flamengo star said: “The season that I was going to leave, he came and told me that he didn’t count on me. He himself was even surprised at how I answered him – I just thanked him.
“It’s difficult to say to a player who has been with you for so many years: ‘Hey, next year I’d rather you are not here. I prefer to have other players’. You can throw things in his face, but I was the opposite: ‘Mister, you have given me the opportunity to fulfil my dream, to play for Atletico Madrid, you have taught me a lot, thank you’.
“I was a player of the academy, who I have always tried to help the club, although there are people who reproached me for not lowering my salary… I lowered my salary when Atletico asked me to, I have been paid in promissory notes when they have asked me to, even now I have done things so that they have facilities. I have always said yes to everything.
“I was very surprised by that negative energy that was around me. There were people I didn’t care about. Miguel Ángel (Gil Marin), (Enrique) Cerezo, Cholo… Those people showed it to me. But in this case, the sporting director, Andrea Berta, was not totally honest with me, and I have even seen evidence. He denied this, but I have seen evidence. I told him not to lie to me. All that hurt me, because if he had done things right with me, he would have sat down with me, we would have talked to each other’s faces and we would have looked for a solution.”
Saúl didn’t leave Atletico permanently until he joined Flamengo this year, but he had loan spells with Chelsea and Sevilla during his latter years. he made 295 league appearances for Atleti and will be fondly remembered at the club.
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