The Coach of Atlético de Madrid, Diego Simeone, has had many lieutenants of confidence inside and outside the field during his 13 -year spell in the club, but would have the new sports director of Arsenal, Andrea Berta, near the top of that list, despite the company to separate the couple at the beginning of this year.
Berta left the Spanish club still with a reputation for being a polished professional who made more calls than badly, never sought the center of attention, and whose impressions are in the most recent Atlético League title in 2021, as well as in his spectacular transfer business last summer.
Atlético signings included Julian Alvarez and Conor Gallagher of Manchester City and Chelsea, respectively, as well as Norwegian striker Alexander Sorloth of Villarreal, and still have acute aspirations in the last third of the campaign.
They feel a point behind the joint leaders of Barcelona and Real Madrid in LaLiga and follow their city rivals 2-1 before a house in the past 16 seconds in the Champions League. Exceed that deficit and are ready to face Berta's new team in the quarterfinals.
Berta played his role in the impressive club of the club last summer, although at this point it was no longer the only authority planning the club's ins and outs. It was that modernization of Atlético's structure that made it want to move forward after more than 11 years in the Spanish capital.
It will reach northern London with the recruitment of the main absolute priority for a club that is advancing for five years since its last trophy, and has seen a third consecutive challenge of the Premier League title, this time almost exclusively due to the lack of investment in the strikers.
Diego Simeone and Andrea Berta (right) had an extremely close relationship at Atlético de Madrid
It was Berta who managed to convince Simeone that he should stay in the club in 2016
The position for the title of the Premier League of Arsenal has fallen while fighting to shoot in the attack
Berta, 53, comes from financial history. He worked in one of the largest banks in Italy, the banking of the Lombardo territory, but there was always a passion for football. He gathered several amateur teams in Brescia, where his talent caught the attention of the local businessman Tommaso Ghirardi, owner of a fourth -level carpenede -level club and took him there as sports director.
When Ghirardi bought Parma in 2007, Berta followed him, and then moved to Genoa, his reputation as a financial administrator and soccer expert increased all the time.
In 2013 he met the Gil of Atlético through mutual contact, the super agent Jorge Mendes. First, he advised Gil on possible signings of the Italian market, then in 2014 he became the international explorer of the club before, in 2017, which was officially the role of sports director.
In 2014, the team had just won LaLiga and wanted to take advantage of that success with a first crown of the Champions League. They would reach two finals and lose them at two in the next three seasons, but won the Europa League in 2018 and the title of the Second League of the Simeone era in 2021.
Berta was popular among players and close enough for coach Simeone to be a regular in Atlético's locker room. He was also in the heart of April 2022 that the Spanish team champions league match with Manchester City ended with a thrust and thrust match among several staff members of both clubs, and you can see Berta landing a slap in the face of the city doctor Max Sala.
That was a rare step in the center of attention and a sample of equally rare emotion. Simeone valued the quiet and measured analysis that Berta brought to most situations. When the intense Argentine lost his second final of the Champions League against Real Madrid in 2016 and was close to getting away from the club, it was Berta who led him again in the course.
Simeone spent three weeks without collecting the phone to anyone else in the club's hierarchy, but he spoke regularly with Berta. And it was Berta who helped him decide that Atlético could rebuild to go again.
Berta directed the recruitment of the team, but was not solely responsible for each firm
Judge Berta for the successes and failures of the transfers market will occasionally be lost the subtleties of exactly who signs who in Atlético
Berta's value for Atlétic
Judging him according to his evaluation of his and the generally ascending trajectory that the club took while he was there, perhaps it is the best way to evaluate its value.
To judge it for the successes and failures of the transfers market, it will occasionally miss the subtleties of exactly who signs who in Atlético. It was never the version of the Monchi club, the famous sports director who inspired the excess range of Sevilla and is now in Aston Villa.
Berta is often attributed to Jan Oblak's firm for only £ 13.4 million (€ 16 million), but the arrival of Slovenian goalkeeper was not at his direct watch. Certainly he cannot be blamed for the disastrous recruitment of Joao Felix for a record of the club £ 106.5m (€ 127 million) in 2019 because the agreement was the result of agent Mendes de Felix and his relationship with Gil.
And although Berta is criticized in Spain for the signing of then Arthur Vermeeren, 18 for £ 16.7 million Royal Amwerp in January 2024 (Simeone began only twice in the league, and took it away at the middle time of his debut in the local league) The capture of the player who has been sold to RB Leipzig was a great team effort under the control of Carlos de los Carlos de los Carlos de los Carlos. Berta to administer the club transfer policy.
It was in January 2024 that Bucero, a former agent who had worked closely with Mendes, joined the club. Atlético felt that the salary bill should be controlled and the squad needed cut. Buero was chosen to lead that operation and after an internal reorganization, Berta now responded to a new boss.
There was a genuine effort on all sides to make the reorganization work, but after years of making decisions on the table with Simeone and Gil, Berta decided that he would not renew his contract that should be exhausted at the end of this season.
Burero asked him to produce his five best options for a certain position was not the same as choosing the goal himself and when discussing it with the coach, he would invariably have his own favorite choice.
He left the club in January knowing that after more than a decade of success in Spain, doors would be opened in another great club.
Berta was in the heart of April 2022 that the Athletic Champions League match with Manchester City ended with a thrust and thrust match among club staff
Berta was reliable enough for Atlético and Simeone to be a regular in the locker room
(From the left) William Saliba, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are out of two years
And in Arsenal, the recruitment process is not a direct task: manager Mikel Arteta plays a fundamental role in transfers, while there are also contributions from above the executive vice president Tim Lewis and managing director Richard Garlick.
Berta replaces the interim sports director Jason Ayto, who saw the club through a complicated January transfer window that ended with them concluding that there was no option available to supplant a decimated progress line, an option that was immediately expensive when the top scorer Kai Hvertz was discarded for the season. Ayto was previously 2 of Edu, who left the club in November to assume a role in the stable of Marinakis Evangelos Clubs, which includes Nottingham Forest.
Berta will enter a discouraging task in Arsenal and recruitment will be essential this summer, which needs to deliver to the striker and the world -class end that will end with that five -year wait for a trophy and progression in the Champions League. They also have four key men: Bukayo Saka, Gabriel, William Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli, entering a crucial period with two remaining years in their contracts, while the club will have to ensure improved terms for the Wonderkids Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis -Skelly.
But fortunately for Berta, who has been taking English classes, Arsenal has a lot in common with Atlético: he will respond to a passionate and driven manager who wants to become the first to put a European glass in the trophy cabinet.