Sporting director Andrea Berta will prepare for a possible move to the Premier League by studying English in London when he leaves Atletico Madrid.
Atletico are expected to announce his departure after 12 years at the Spanish club soon, and Berta is taking steps to ready himself for his next club being in England by perfecting his language skills in the UK for a month, with several teams in the top flight looking at executive appointments.
Manchester United have previously been linked with Berta and are in the midst of a reshuffle following Dan Ashworth’s departure as sporting director, although chief executive Omar Berrada and technical director Jason Wilcox share responsibilities.
On the continent, Paris Saint-Germain are thought to have held talks over Berta along with other European clubs, whose final day at Atletico is set for January 5.
His exit is significant for Atletico, who in his time have won two La Liga titles, the Europa League, and reached two Champions League finals under manager Diego Simeone.
Berta, a 53-year-old Italian who previously worked at Genoa and Parma, has been instrumental in shaping Atletico’s squad over the last decade — he was appointed technical director in 2013 and became sporting director in 2017.
He helped sign Antoine Griezmann from Real Sociedad for €30million before selling him to Barcelona for €120m in 2019. Griezmann rejoined Atletico two years later, eventually on a permanent deal for €40m.
Rodri joined from Villarreal in 2018 for €25m before signing for Manchester City a year later for £62.6m. Berta was also across the signing of Diogo Jota from Pacos de Ferreira and Jan Oblak from Benfica.
Berta’s last transfer window with Atletico was a major one, with Julian Alvarez, Conor Gallagher, Robin Le Normand, and Alexander Sorloth joining, and Simeone guiding his team top of La Liga after 18 games. Going the other direction was Samu Omorodion, who had joined Atletico for €4m in 2023. Omorodion joined Porto, who paid €20m for 50 per cent of his sports rights.
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(David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images)
