Andrea Berta is one of the candidates being considered for the sporting director role at Arsenal, football.london understands.
The 53-year-old left Atletico Madrid at the start of January after joining the Spanish giants in 2013. First part of the international scouting department, Berta moved up to technical director before becoming sporting director in 2017 but is now looking for a fresh challenge.
Since Edu’s resignation at the back end of last year, Arsenal have been searching for a replacement for the Brazilian, with Jason Ayto in the role as interim currently. football.london understands that there are numerous candidates being considered for the highly important role, with Berta among them. Ayto, too, has been spoken about internally while Dan Ashworth, Roberto Olabe and Thiago Scuro are also options.
It was reported last week that a final decision on Edu’s replacement is set to be made in March. Berta has been out of work for nearly two months now and would likely join in the summer, if the Italian were to get the role.
Berta was relatively successful during his time in Madrid, with the Spanish side winning two La Liga titles, the Europa League and the Uefa Super Cup during his tenure. No deal with Arsenal is thought to be close, though, and other candidates may well still be being considered.
Ayto oversaw the January transfer window, although the Gunners failed to bring any new signings though the door. Arteta was asked about the sporting director role after the January window and admitted it was firmly a “club decision”.
“The decision I think will be done relatively quickly, whether it’s Jason or somebody else I don’t know but I think that decision will be done quite early,” Arteta said. “We have the sporting director which is Jason, it’s clear and he’s been since the departure of Edu from day one he has been given full responsibility, all our support from that aspect and what the club wants to do after that is not on me. It’s a club decision to try to appoint the person that they believe is the best and I will be in full support of that.”
