ARSENAL’S new sporting director has plenty of feisty battle experience against Manchester City.
Andrea Berta was entangled in a pitch side scuffle with City doctor Max Sala after an ill-tempered Champions League quarter final tie in 2022.
Berta has been announced as Arsenal’s new sporting director, replacing Edu, who departed last November.
The Italian was in the same role at Atletico Madrid since 2017 and held other positions within the club’s sporting hierarchy after joining in 2013.
He became one of Atletico manager Diego Simeone’s most trusted lieutenants on and off the pitch during his 12-year spell in Spain.
The 53-year-old was popular with the players and close enough to Simeone to be a regular in the Atletico dressing room.
And Berta used to get into the thick of the drama too.
In April 2022, he was involved in the fracas which ensued after Atletico were knocked out of the Champions League by Pep Guardiola’s side.
Arsenal fans have unearthed a video of their new director pushing a City club doctor in the face at full-time.
Atletico defender Felipe had been sent off for a wild swipe at Phil Foden deep into added time before tensions boiled over after the final whistle.
Stefan Savic angrily confronted Jack Grealish and pulled his hair, while Sime Vrsaljko had to be held back from launching himself at Kyle Walker.
And Arsenal fans were more than thrilled to see Berta’s role in Atletico’s typical passionate style and housery.
One wrote on X: “Finally we have a fighter like Arteta in key decision making position.”
A second said: “Berta doesn’t seat in the director’s box, he sits in the technical area. Love it! 😂😂.”
A third added: “I love this. No nonsense. Arsenal through and through.”
Another replied: “This is exactly what we need. The Emirates must be a cauldron of fire for opposing teams.”
While one more wrote: “He means business.”
Berta’s departure from Atletico in January can be linked to the club’s desire to modernise and revamp their recruitment process and overall board structure.
He has as one of the most football-savy operators on the continent before being appointed sporting director in 2017.
In the eight years that followed, Atletico won La Liga in 2021, as well as the Europa League and Uefa Super Cup in 2018, having also reached two Champions League finals in 2014 and 2016.
Berta was named best sporting director at the Globe Soccer Awards in 2019, his acceptance speech lasted only 55 seconds.
He was also recently linked to the likes of Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United and AC Milan.
Berta’s fingerprints were all over the impressive deals for Antoine Griezmann and Jan Oblak in 2014 and Kieran Trippier in 2019.
Julian Alvarez and Conor Gallagher also joined under his watch last summer.
And he was at the forefront of the profitable sales of the likes of Rodri to City and Thomas Partey to Arsenal.
But there have been some failures, including the £113m paid for Joao Felix in 2019 and the £60m for Thomas Lemar in 2018.
For now, Berta has the unenviable task of landing an elite No.9 this summer, raising funds through sales and extending the contracts of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel and William Saliba.
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