Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has broken his long-held silence on the exit of the club’s former football guru Omar Berrada to Manchester United, LCSoccerHub Reports.
Speaking ahead of a crunch FA Cup clash with Tottenham today, Guardiola aimed a subtle dig on United for poaching the renowned football administrator from City, insisting the Spaniard will not solve United’s problems.
‘I don’t know if, by doing this, everything is going to be sorted and it works,’ Guardiola said.
‘Maybe United think that with this person, everything is going to change — congratulations. If it does happen, then my God, they have to make a stand for Omar Berrada in the future because he’d deserve it.’
Apparently undermining Omar Berrada’s chances at Manchester United, Guardiola named Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne as two player examples United could add to their squad to enable Omar Berrada to recreate his City magic at Old Trafford.
‘Kevin De Bruyne is still at Man City, Erling Haaland will keep playing here, so it’s not that simple like that,” he added.
Despite playing down Berrada’s chances, Guardiola did not fall short of courtesy standards for an official he has worked with at City for 8 years. He hailed Omar’s professionalism and also added United will definitely make progress with Berrada in their ranks.
“Obviously Omar’s knowledge goes to United, that’s the reality. The club will move forward. We will adapt. I saw him yesterday, we hugged. I wish him the best because he’s a fantastic person,” he said.
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Manchester United poached Omar Berrada from cross-city rivals Manchester City in a shocking first move by new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who is hopeful of sanitizing Man United sporting and footballing operations.
Berrada, who has been a key figure in Manchester City’s top football leadership, defected to Man United after being reportedly impressed by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Man United project plan.
Berrada is said to be the brain behind City’s recent rise from minnows to Premier League and European giants. He joined the club as Chief Football Operations Officer in 2011 from Barcelona.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe scored a point on his credibility card bringing Omar Berrada to drive his messianic journey to restore United to its glory days.