Omar a match City did not want to lose

BERRADA HAS OVERSEEN SUCCESS AT ETIHAD

- SIMON BAJKOWSKI

DON'T let anyone tell you that Manchester United getting Omar Berrada from Manchester City is not a coup.

There may be more senior figures at the club but there aren't many than a COO who has been at the heart of the recruitment and financial strategy that has seen the Blues crowned as the best club in the world on the pitch and the one with the biggest revenues English football has ever seen off it.

There is enough strength at City for them to be confident they can thrive without Berrada, yet if they had their way he would still be working there biding his time to succeed either sporting director Txiki Begiristain or CEO Ferran Soriano.

It looks like a smart appointment from United that must be seen as the fresh impetus and improved thinking provided by their new sporting operation, given the last decade has been full of second-rate decisions that have seen the Reds fall well behind City on every sporting metric.