Luring Omar Berrada away from Man City is a huge coup for United - ex-Barcelona chief is INEOS' perfect man to stamp out player power at Old Trafford

Berrada was born in Paris to Moroccan parents, but went through the schooling system in the United States, and eventually got into a university in Massachusetts to study engineering. He dropped out of the degree after just six months, though, and took the brave decision to move to Barcelona as an 18-year-old.

After getting a job at Tiscali - a Spanish telecommunication company - Berrada met his wife and found an unlikely route into football. Barca drafted in Tiscali's CEO as their new chief marketing officer, and he managed to convince the club to give Berrada a job, too, which would lead him to start working with Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano for the first time.

Berrada eventually earned the position as Barca's head of sponsorship, and also struck up a relationship with Pep Guardiola before leaving Camp Nou in 2011. He then accepted a role as City's head of international business development, with Begiristain and Soriano joining him at the Etihad Stadium one year later.

Director of partnership sales and senior vice-president group commercial director roles followed for Berrada, who became City's chief operating officer in 2016 - the same year Guardiola's reign as head coach began. Since then, he has been Soriano's right-hand man.

As the managing director of the entire City Football Group (CFG), which now owns a grand total of 13 clubs, Soriano was not always able to cover all of the day-to-day activities at the Etihad, and so Berrada stepped in to lead on marketing, commercial and media matters. He was also asked to assist Begiristain in his sporting director duties, most crucially having a say on transfers.

According to The Athletic, Berrada "helped close" City's £57 million ($73m) deal for Aymeric Laporte in January 2018, and his influence grew rapidly from there until he was promoted again, this time to chief football operations officer. On the surface, only one word had been added to his job title, but the appointment marked his first foray into a senior role for the CFG.

Over the past four years, Berrada has been key to City's transfer strategy, with one particular move standing out above all the rest. That, of course, was the £50m ($64m) capture of Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund, who re-wrote the record books during his first season in England.

Berrada and Begiristain initially opened talks with the late 'super-agent' Mino Raiola over a potential deal for Haaland in February 2022, and managed to secure his signature by early June, reportedly seeing off competition from La Liga giants Real Madrid. Haaland proved to be the last piece in the puzzle for Guardiola as he finally delivered elusive European silverware at City last season, and he had Berrada to thank for tapping into what really drives the Norwegian striker.

"A player like Haaland really could have chosen any top team in Europe. Almost all the top teams were interested in his signature," Berrada said on the Sky documentary titled Deadline Day: Football’s Transfer Window. "For us, it was about understanding what motivates him. When you boil it down to its essence, he wanted a football project. We spent a lot of time explaining the football project. He's a strong character and the decision was taken by him, but clearly the fact that his father had played for Man City, there was an affinity."

He added: "The transfer market has almost become a competition in itself. What you don't realise is the sheer amount of pressure you deal with. Yes, there's an element of the transaction - the salary, the fee, the commission. But you're dealing with people, people who have dreams, fears and who may have influences within their own entourage. You have to really try and understand who you are speaking to. When you understand that, you have a better sense of how to negotiate."

That thoughtful approach to signing new players is exactly what has been missing at United in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. The Glazers have invested billions in the squad, but a lack of proper planning and questionable scouting has led to the club's poor recruitment record - something Berrada has all the qualities to reverse.

According to The Athletic, Berrada was in charge of finalising contract terms for new players, which required him to be acutely aware of the salary scales in the squad. His work has helped ensure that City never overpay for their top targets, with a clear wage structure ensuring that harmony is always maintained in the dressing room.

In stark contrast, United have handed out staggering financial packages to new signings, with the likes of Harry Maguire, Jadon Sancho and Antony all penning life-changing deals before proving themselves at Old Trafford. Big names like Casemiro and Raphael Varane have also flopped, which has left the Red Devils paying out £500,000 every month since September to players that have fallen out of favour, been sidelined through injury, or in the case of Sancho, been left out due to disciplinary reasons - as per The Guardian.

That unstable financial model has caused certain players to rebel against current manager Erik ten Hag, just as they did with his predecessors, while adopting the mindset that they are bigger than the club. The passion and insatiable hunger to win that Ferguson instilled in several different squads across his 27-year reign is long gone, with too many now looking out only for their own interests.

City were in the market for some of the same players, most notably Fred, Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo, but on each of those occasions they were happy to let their neighbours come out on top instead of breaking their carefully built structure.

“In terms of Harry Maguire, we have shown very clearly over the last few seasons that we will only go for a transfer if we feel it is the right valuation," Berrada said in an interview with The Athletic in 2020. "So we look at the player’s quality, age, experience, what he can bring to the team, and then decide the correct valuation."

United's new CEO will immediately set about overhauling the club's transfer policy when he officially starts work at Old Trafford. The days of reckless spending will soon be over, with Ratcliffe's dream team already falling into place as he awaits final ratification from the Premier League for INEOS' investment in the club.

Back in November, Richard Arnold announced his resignation as United's chief executive to spark the boardroom shake-up that supporters are hoping can bring about a swift turnaround in fortunes on the pitch, with head of legal Patrick Stewart stepping in on an interim basis. Arnold always seemed like an odd fit for the role due to his non-existent football experience, and handed responsibility on sporting matters to John Murtough.

Arnold was head of commercial under United's former executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, and so he naturally focused on the bottom line from an economic standpoint, instead of having any input on how best to improve the team. That won't be the case with Berrada, who will be expected to make signings, appoint managers and effectively reshape the entire football department at Old Trafford.

Ratcliffe, alongside Sir Dave Brailsford and Jean Claude-Blanc - the two other members of the INEOS senior team tasked with overseeing operations at United - have already identified where the club have been failing, and firmly believe that Berrada is the right man to affect significant change.

Joel and Avram Glazer signed off on the appointment of Berrada, but the The Athletic has reported Ratcliffe led talks with the City chief right from the off. United's days of drawing out hires, and transfers, appear to be over with the British billionaire methodically picking his staff and generally getting everything done in a swift and efficient manner.

True to his nature, Berrada didn't just jump right away when United came calling, carefully mulling over all of his options before agreeing to swap the blue side of Manchester for the red. According to the BBC, he "agonised over the decision" due to the current gulf between the two clubs, before ultimately stepping out of his comfort zone once again.

Despite his impressive credentials, there is no guarantee that Berrada will be successful at United. He's joining a club in the early stages of a revamp from top to bottom, but that won't ease any of the pressure for immediate results.

Aside from Real Madrid, there is no other club that attracts quite the same level of media scrutiny as the Red Devils, and Berrada will have to get used to being firmly under the spotlight. For example, mere minutes after his appointment was confirmed at the weekend, social media users unearthed a few old tweets that appeared to show Berrada poking fun at United.

In February 2012, one of the posts from a verified account his name read: "Stuck at the airport because of snow delays. Killing time watching MUFC vs Chelsea FC on my iPad via Sky Go. And hoping for a ManU loss..."

Another written a year later read: "Watching the Man Utd vs Bayern 1999 UCL final on ESPN Classic. I had forgotten how much Bayern really deserved to win that match."

And towards the end of David Moyes' ill-fated tenure at Old Trafford in the 2013-14 season, Berrada's account quoted a headline from The Guardian stating "Manchester United: how did they get into this mess?", which at the time of writing has not yet been deleted.

Berrada is unlikely to be fazed, but he will have to deal with intense judgement from day one at Old Trafford. United are still in a real "mess" right now, something Berrada is not used to after being part of the well-oiled City machine for so long, but he will still be expected to come up with the answers straight away.

It is rare for top English clubs to hire each other's executives, with the most high profile example to date actually involving United some 20 years ago. Peter Kenyon served as the Red Devils' chief executive between 2000 and 2003 before taking up the same position at Chelsea, who then emerged as the dominant force in the Premier League under their new owner at the time - a certain Russian oligarch by the name of Roman Abramovich.

United will hope that Berrada can make a similar impact, but his resignation will not come as a mortal wound to City. In fact, the reigning English and European champions actually believe their status as the best-run club on the continent has been cemented by United's move for one of their most distinguished executives - as per BBC Sport.

There appears to be little chance that Soriano will stepping down soon, which is partly why Berrada accepted United's offer, with CFG's current chief operating officer Roel de Vries touted as the Spaniard's long-term successor at the Etihad. The Athletic states that although City are sad to see Berrada go, they have no doubt that their football department will adapt and continue to set the standard at the very top of the game.

United will also be well aware of the 115 financial fair play charges hanging over City for alleged false accounting and inflated commercial deals between 2009 and 2018. The club have denied any wrongdoing, and Berrada has not been implicated personally, but he did deal with the sponsorship side of the business during the period in question. Still, the risk of any sanctions coming Berrada's way when City eventually stand trial is outweighed by the potential rewards his arrival could bring, in United's eyes.

According to The Telegraph, the Red Devils were also attracted to Berrada because of his record with the development and eventual sale of top academy graduates, with Cole Palmer, James Trafford and Romeo Lavia among those City have been able to cash in on in recent years. Berrada also appears to have a ruthless streak, with Fabrizio Romano reporting via the United Stand that his philosophy with underperforming players has always been that they should be shipped out within one to two years. The new board at Old Trafford will make sure that no one overstays their welcome.

There is a long road ahead for United before they can call themselves an elite club again, but if anyone can fast-track that process, it's Berrada.