Arsenal have announced the appointment of Andrea Berta as their new sporting director. The Italian takes over the position from Edu Gaspar who resigned from the post at the start of November last year.
The club have gone through an extensive recruitment process football.london has been told, with many candidates being considered. The club were keen not to rush the process despite being mindful of the importance of making a decision well ahead of the summer transfer window.
Jason Ayto, the interim sporting director, oversaw the period between Edu’s exit and Berta’s appointment which included a disappointing January transfer window. The club did not sign any players despite making an unsuccessful £40million plus add-ons offer to Aston Villa for Ollie Watkins.
Kai Havertz was injured soon after the closure of the winter market, leaving Mikel Arteta, who had been very vocal in January about his desire to want a forward addition, without any recognised centre-forward. Ayto was considered for the position along with several other names such as Sparta Prague’s Tomas Rosicky, Monaco’s Thaigo Scuro, Real Sociedad’s Roberto Olabe and PSG’s Lucas Campos, but in the end Berta was deemed the standout profile.
Leaving his role with Atletico Madrid only a few months ago, Berta had been keen on a move to the Premier League and has been learning English. While Arteta is considered to have a significant influence on the Gunners’ operations and transfer strategy, Berta will be a vital cog in the recruitment machine at the club.
He will work alongside managing director Richard Garlick, director of football operations James King, executive vice-chairman Tim Lewis and co-chairman Josh Kroenke. Arsenal have worked extensively in recent years to broaden their scouting network, bringing in the likes of Paulo Xavier from Real Madrid, Romain Poirot from Manchester United and James Ellis from Fulham who joined in 2021 and was promoted to head of recruitment in 2023, all alongside the aforementioned Ayto who was chief scout prior to his promotion to assistant sporting director.
Working at Atletico Madrid, much was made of Berta’s decision to leave the club and how that linked with manager Diego Simeone. While the pair did not always agree on targets, the restructuring at executive level and arrivals of Oscar Mayo and Carlos Bucero into major roles is thought to have a greater bearing. Berta and Simone worked together for years, building a squad that won titles and regularly challenged both Barcelona and Real Madrid.
His task this summer will be to deliver the club’s transfer strategy. Plenty of work has already been done, though, as football.london understands that both Martin Zubimendi and Joan Garcia are priority targets for the defensive midfield and backup goalkeeper positions.
However, the forward line is the key area where the club have some major targets. At centre-forward, Benjamin Sesko and Alexander Isak are both highly thought of although the latter’s transfer fee may force the Gunners to pivot to the RB Leipzig talent whom the club approached unsuccessfully last summer.
The wide area is another key point of interest with Nico Williams known to be a favourite of Arteta’s. Another La Liga-based player, with a release clause, it will be Berta’s experience in Spain that Arsenal will hope could give them an edge in any chases for these particular stars.
The summer will not see Berta’s talent identification necessarily be tested too greatly; that will come in later years. The key targets are known and as mentioned work has already been underway, which the Italian will certainly have been made aware of during the negotiation process of his appointment, the question from supporters will be whether he can deliver to the club what they need in what is without doubt the most important summer of Arteta’s tenure as manager.