Andrea Berta set to join Arsenal as club’s new sporting director | Arsenal

Andrea Berta is primed to join Arsenal as their new sporting director. The club have conducted a thorough recruitment process to find a replacement for Edu, who resigned from the post last November, and have considered a number of candidates. They included an internal one – Jason Ayto, who has filled the role on an interim basis since Edu’s departure.

Berta has emerged as the outstanding choice. The 53-year-old Italian, who left Atlético Madrid in January after 12 years as the sporting director there, has agreed a deal and, once the contracts have been signed, there would appear to be no obstacle to him starting straight away, enabling him to work towards what is sure to be a big summer for Arsenal.

Berta had been linked with Milan but he has long considered the Premier League as a potential next destination. He has vast experience of completing complicated and expensive transfers, with Atlético’s moves last summer for Julián Alvarez (£64m from Manchester City) and Conor Gallagher (£34m from Chelsea) the latest examples.

Berta’s greatest hits at Atlético included the signings of Jan Oblak (€4m from Benfica in 2014) and Rodri (€25m from Villarreal in 2019). He also oversaw the re-signing of Antoine Griezmann in 2021 for €20m after Atlético sold him to Barcelona for €120m in 2019. The misses have taken in João Felix (€126m from Benfica in 2019), Thomas Lemar (€60m from Monaco in 2018), Álvaro Morata (€58m from Chelsea in 2020) and Diego Costa (€55m also from Chelsea in 2017).

Arsenal’s drive to restructure after Edu’s decision to move on has been led by the managing director, Richard Garlick, and the executive vice-chair, Tim Lewis, with Josh Kroenke involved on behalf of the ownership. The Kroenke family have the ultimate signoff on any appointment. Mikel Arteta has also been consulted.

The candidates under consideration included the former Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth, the Monaco chief executive, Thiago Scuro, and the Real Sociedad sporting director, Roberto Olabe, who has said he will leave his club at the end of the season.

What happens next with Ayto will be interesting because he is extremely well-regarded by the Arsenal hierarchy. It could be that they find a role for him to work with Berta. There is no sense that the club’s dry January, when they failed to make a signing despite the need for a striker after Gabriel Jesus’s ACL rupture midway through the month, was on Ayto.

Arsenal felt there was only one authentic target for them, who would improve the team and might be attainable – Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins. But he proved too expensive and so they made the collective decision to pass. The decision was made to look flawed when Kai Havertz suffered a season-ending hamstring injury on the club’s Dubai training break in early February. It came hard on the heels of Gabriel Martinelli’s hamstring strain at Newcastle on 5 February. Bukayo Saka was already a long-term hamstring injury casualty.

Arsenal will look to add a striker in the summer, with Newcastle’s Alexander Isak the dream target. They have heavily scouted RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko while Matheus Cunha of Wolves could be a possibility. Berta brought the Brazilian to Atlético from Hertha Berlin in 2021.

With Thomas Partey and Jorginho approaching the end of their contracts, Arsenal have a €60m deal in place for the Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi. The club will also look to strengthen at left-back and there are also contracts to extend, principally those of Saka and Willian Saliba, whose deals expire in 2027.