Omar Berrada’s old social media posts have come to light following his appointment as Manchester United CEO, with the Moroccan making the case for Pep Guardiola to take over at Liverpool before the club’s eventual appointment of Brendan Rodgers in 2012.
United confirmed the appointment of Berrada in a statement on Saturday. The new arrival has been at City Football Group since 2011, and his move across town has been seen as a major coup for Sir Jim Ratcliffe after his own investment in United was announced in December.
Berrada, born in France to Moroccan parents, has occupied a number of roles within CFG and was named chief football operations officer in 2016. He will need to serve out a notice period with his current employers, with Patrick Stewart remaining United’s interim CEO for the time being.
A number of the 46-year-old’s historical social media posts have come to light, including some in which he appeared to want United to lose while involved with their rivals. It wasn’t just United who he commented on, though, as the post about Liverpool shows.
“Liverpool sacks Dalglish,” Berrada wrote. “For me, [Pep] Guardiola would be their ideal manager but he said he wants to take a year off”. The Catalan did indeed take a year out of the game, eventually taking the Bayern Munich job in 2013.
Later that month, he responded “Really?” to reports Rodgers had turned down an approach from Liverpool. Rodgers, then at Swansea, would eventually agree to move to Anfield before leading the Reds to a second-place finish in the 2013-14 Premier League season.
A number of Liverpool fans have since discovered Berrada’s post about Guardiola, but feel things still panned out alright for their team with Jurgen Klopp eventually succeeding Rodgers in 2015. “We were extremely lucky to end up with Klopp,” wrote one, with another saying “Klopp is clear of Pep”.
United’s CEO position was previously held by Richard Arnold, whose departure was confirmed in November. “The Club is determined to put football and performance on the pitch back at the heart of everything we do. Omar’s appointment represents the first step on this journey,” they said in a statement confirming Berrada’s move.
“As one of the most experienced football executives at the top of European football, Omar brings a wealth of football and commercial expertise, with a proven record of successful leadership and a passion to help lead change across the Club. He is currently serving as Chief Football Operations Officer for City Football Group overseeing 11 clubs across five continents and, prior to this, held senior roles at Barcelona.
“It is our stated ambition to re-establish Manchester United as a title-winning club. We are pleased that Omar will be joining us to help achieve that goal, so that, once again, United fans can see, in the words of Sir Matt Busby, the red flag flying high at the summit of English, European and world football.”
