Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola reacts to Omar Berrada's shock move to Man Utd

The long-serving City chief is taking over the reins at Old Trafford (Pictures: Getty)

Pep Guardiola has wished Omar Berrada good luck in his new role at Manchester United but insists Manchester City will ‘move forward’ without their former chief football operations officer.

The Red Devils announced on Saturday evening that they had managed to poach Berrada from their noisy neighbours to become the club’s new chief executive.

United had been looking for a permanent CEO since Richard Arnold announced he was stepping down at the backend of last year, with Berrada’s appointment representing the first step towards ‘putting football and performance on the pitch back at the heart of everything we do’.

The Spaniard first arrived at City from Barcelona in 2011, preceding Guardiola’s arrival at the club, and has contributed massively to their success on and off the pitch.

Berrada is credited with playing a huge role in the development of City’s academy, now one of the most accomplished in the country, while he was also pivotal to Erling Haaland’s transfer in 2022.

His switch to Old Trafford represents a huge coup for United and their new minority owners Ineos and while Guardiola says City would have liked Berrada to remain at the club, he is confident they will continue to thrive without him.

Asked for his thoughts on Berrada’s move and how much of a loss it is for City, Guardiola replied: ‘Well all I can say personally is I wish him all the best, good luck. So he changes street and not the city.

Guardiola is not especially worried by Berrada’s defection (Picture: Getty)

‘Yeah, he has been an important person for the whole organisation, the right hand of [City CEO] Ferran [Soriano].

‘But he decided for himself to leave, and the club will move forward.

‘So we, the club, will find the right way or the right person, or persons, to move forward and do what he has done. But personally I wish him all the best.’

Probed on whether there was any sense of shock that Berrada has joined United, and whether they will be more of a force in the future, Guardiola added: ‘I don’t know the ideas from Man United.

‘We try to keep the best persons and people here but this can happen.

‘When I arrived here eight years ago, especially in this building, to come, not very often, just in the press conferences, but now I come here and I don’t recognise one face. Honestly.

‘So people change a lot, move to another job, and new people are coming.

‘I think we wanted [him to stay], the club was so happy with Omar, but he decided for himself to leave and all the best [to him].’

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