United pinch City's CEO

Manchester United have confirmed that Omar Berrada, who has been employed by rivals Manchester City for over a decade, is the club’s new CEO.

At City he was initially appointed as head of international business development, before becoming director of partnership sales and then senior vice president group commercial director, before becoming the club’s chief operating officer in 2016. In 2020, he became the chief football operations officer for the entire City Football Group.

In a move which has shown the positive steps the club is ready to make now Sir Jim Ratcliffe has a 25% stake in the club, the official statement hinted at how the direction of the club is changing to putting the focus on football.

Manchester United is pleased to announce the appointment of Omar Berrada as its new CEO.

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.

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.
 
Omar’s start date will be confirmed in due course; in the meantime, Patrick Stewart will continue as interim CEO.