Man United appointment is like 'Rangers chief joining Celtic' - Keith Wyness

James holds a degree in Sports Journalism and Communications (MA) from the Real Madrid Graduate School. He has experience working for a number of local news outlets as well as the Sunday Mirror and Real Madrid TV. James is from Scunthorpe and has an affinity with Scunthorpe United, but is also a huge West Ham supporter and an expert on all things to do with the Hammers. He started working for Breaking Media in July 2023, initially writing on the Club Sites, where he specialised in West Ham content, before moving to Football Insider – where he is now an expert in football finance, speaking regularly with Stefan Borson and Keith Wyness to generate high-quality content in all things related to finance in the Premier League, Football League, and Scottish Premiership.

Published on:

21 Jul 2024, 6:13 am

Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness believes it’s “very strange” Manchester United have appointed Omar Berrada as their new chief executive.

Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – compared Berrada’s appointment to a Rangers CEO joining Celtic after he’s made the switch to Old Trafford from rivals Manchester City.

Man United confirmed the Morroccan’s appointment in January before Man City placed him on gardening leave, having held the position of chief football operations officer at the Etihad.

Berrada announced on his LinkedIn page on 13 July he has started his new role at Old Trafford, where he is charged with helping the club challenge for the Premier League title again.

The 46-year-old is one of several high-level appointments to have been made since Sir Jim Ratcliffe secured his 27.7-per-cent stake in the club earlier this year.

Man United issues could emerge after influx of appointments

Wyness believes there could be issues for Ratcliffe to deal with down the road due to some of the behind-the-scenes decisions.

He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “If you saw last week, they had the new CEO Omar Berrada coming in from City.

“He’s been charged with bringing back the old Man United culture around the Ferguson-type era.

“I find that very strange. If you can imagine a Rangers chief executive trying to do that with Celtic, we have a City chief executive here trying to do it with Man United.

“Then you have the Dutch culture happening at the same time.