Summary
Andrea Berta is set to become Arsenal's new sporting director.
One of the Italian's first ports of call will be to sign a new striker at the Emirates.
Berta's 13 strikers at Atletico Madrid have been ranked.
There looks set to be a new man entering the Arsenal hierarchy, with all signs pointing towards the fact that Andrea Berta is set to become the new sporting director at the club. The Italian is best known for his time at Atletico Madrid, holding several different roles at the Spanish club from 2013 before leaving in early 2025.
Berta has been earmarked as the man to replace Edu, and should he be officially announced, one of the first things on his to-do list has to be to recruit a striker. The Gunners' current injury crisis has meant the likes of Mikel Merino and Riccardo Calafiori have had to play as makeshift number nines, and even when Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus are fit, Mikel Arteta still doesn't have a reliable goalscorer among his ranks.
Luckily, Berta knows a thing or two about signing strikers. While some turned out to be brilliant purchases, others were nothing short of flops. This is how all 13 of the frontmen he signed for Atleti compare to one another.
arsenal Related
10 Best Signings Made By Andrea Berta Amid Arsenal Director Links [Ranked]
13-11
Nicolas Ibanez, Ivan Saponjic, Moussa Dembele
MixCollage-06-Mar-2025-10-10-PM-4283
Starting off with Berta's biggest mistakes, and the bottom three in these rankings proves that 53-year-old is far from perfect. Starting off with Nicolas Ibanez, who Atletico acquired from Atletico San Luis in 2019, loaning him out immediately. The Argentine forward stayed for two years without making any appearances, so it is hard to call him a success.
In similar vein, Ivan Saponjic signed with Atletico in 2019 for £400,000, made five appearances in two years, and was sold to Slovan Bratislava in January 2022. Moussa Dembele is the most notable name at the bottom of these rankings, having played for the likes of Fulham and Lyon. Atletico loaned the Frenchman in January 2021 with a £28million purchase option, but he made just seven appearances without scoring and the option was never exercised.
10-6
Nikola Kalinic, Matheus Cunha, Joao Felix, Alexander Sorloth, Memphis Depay
Entering the top 10 with Nikola Kalinic. Atletico signed the striker for £12.5million in 2018, but after underperforming, he was loaned to Roma and sold to Hellas Verona in 2020. Matheus Cunha has gone on to become one of the best attackers in the Premier League, so Berta may not have got this one all wrong, but the Brazilian did struggle to produced his best form at the club.
Joao Felix is arguably the biggest miss from Berta's repertoire. The Portuguese striker is the club's record signing, but he never fit in under Diego Simeone and it turned out to be an expensive gamble that didn't quite pay off. Meanwhile, sixth place goes to Alexander Sorloth. After a standout season with Villarreal in 2023-24, Atletico signed the Norwegian international for £27million. Despite limited minutes, he’s scored 13 goals in all competitions.
Just missing out on the top five is Memphis Depay, who was a cheap pickup from Barcelona who impressed with 13 goals in 40 games at the Metropolitano Stadium.
MixCollage-10-Dec-2024-09-05-AM-1642 Related
What Brazilian Fans Think About Memphis Depay After First 3 Months at Corinthians
5-1
Julian Alvarez, Luis Suarez, Alvaro Morata, Diego Costa, Antoine Griezmann
Julian Alvarez, Berta's final striker signing, joined Atletico from Manchester City for £81.8 million. He’s quickly impressed, scoring 22 goals and five assists in 41 games, and if he continues his incredible start to life in Spain, he could even climb higher if this list is revisited. He falls just shy of one of the greatest finishers in history in the form of Luis Suarez, as we made sure to get revenge on Barcelona by helping Atleti win La Liga in his debut season for the club.
Alvaro Morata was never the most clinical goalscorer, but his hard work up top epitomised what it meant to be an Atleti player under Diego Simeone. Then there's Diego Costa, whose aggression and mentality also matched that of his manager and helped turn him into one of the most dangerous number nines in the 2010s.
Top spot is undoubtedly reserved for one man though. Antoine Griezmann's initial signing was enough to earn him first place, but the fact he was sold for over £100 million, came back on a cut-price deal, and then became the club's record goalscorer only cements his standing further.
Andrea Berta's Striker Signings for Atletico Madrid
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Julian Alvarez Related
Julian Alvarez Receives Strong Verdict From Spanish Media 6 Months After Man City Exit
All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt - accurate 06/03/2025.