Man Utd revolution illustrated by high-profile exit as Omar Berrada comes through the door

The announcement of Omar Berrada as Manchester United’s new CEO further suggests that big changes are set to come at Old Trafford in the coming months as Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS look to put their stamp on the club and become more like the trophy machine the Spaniard is leaving: Manchester City.

While that might remind fans of David Moyes’ infamous comments about “aspiring” to be like City nearly 10 years ago, it is now Manchester United’s reality.

Of course, nothing that City have achieved in the last 15 years would have been possible without their ownership by a human-rights abusing state, nor the 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules.

But, if we can put that to the side for one minute (quite the ask), it still cannot be denied that the blue side of Manchester have been the antithesis of their red counterparts in terms of organisational strategy, culture, structure and all of the other buzzwords.

As the City Football Group’s Chief Football Operating Officer for the last three-and-a-half years, and in roles with City for over a decade in total, Berrada has been an integral part of the club’s success.

How complicit he is in their alleged breaches is another question, and his appointment does raise further debate over whether City will actually be punished at all, but again, let’s try and park that for now.

In his impending role at Old Trafford, he will be one of the men tasked with steering United back in the right direction after over a decade of malaise and mismanagement.

Player recruitment has been a major part of that with the Glazers allowing bankers and accountants like Ed Woodward and Richard Arnold to make football decisions, and more recently, Erik ten Hag to dictate transfer dealings. Both models are unlike nearly any other serious club in the sport.

READ: Man Utd: Ten Hag favourite De Ligt tops ranking of Netherlands squad on Reds transfer chances

The most recent of the many, many signings in the last decade that has neatly summed up the difference between City and United is Casemiro, who looks set to make his return to Ten Hag’s first team this weekend.

The Brazilian arrived at Old Trafford in August 2022 amid ongoing anti-Glazer protests and a dire start to Ten Hag’s reign. It was an obvious response to both: a panic buy like so many others before. A reported £70m and a five-year-contract on astronomical wages screamed short-term, expensive fix.

There was little doubt that the Brazilian would be an excellent player for United, and he absolutely was, at least for the vast majority of his first season.

However, most pundits also noted that United were overpaying in the extreme for a 30-year-old, with there being little chance of a true return on investment, and that has rung true in recent months at a rate quicker than nearly anyone could have predicted.

Injuries and Ten Hag’s tactics have not helped but it now seems certain he will be departing in the summer as part of the planned overhaul, and his departure should mark the end of the short-term and scattergun approach at Old Trafford.

Granted, United were in dire straits at the time of his arrival, it is not as simple as asking what City would have done in that situation, but there’s no chance a similar type of deal would ever have been done.

Firstly, it feels highly unlikely City would spend a summer chasing a player who made it clear he did not want to move clubs (in this case, Frenkie de Jong). Even if they did, they certainly would have had several back-ups in place that were of a similar type of player who was suitable for their manager’s style of play.

United had a Plan A and nothing else, which sounds a bit like Liverpool in the case of Virgil van Dijk, albeit the circumstances were a tad different. The Reds stuck to their guns and landed the player eventually, not willing to sacrifice either their long-term plan or huge sums of money for a quick fix.

Everything in the post-Fergie wilderness years has been looking for a quick fix, from the big-money purchases to the stop-gap January loan signings. None of it has worked, showing that money spent is not a true indicator of success; see Chelsea and PSG for further information.

The mess that the Glazers have made of the club over the last decade, and in the years prior to that in terms of the debt saddled on the club and more, will not be resolved in one summer.

There will be no quick fix at United but, at this point, surely every fan is willing to accept the short-term pain for the hope of long-term and sustainable gain.

Berrada and Casemiro will likely cross like ships in the night, never to be docked at the same time, but they could symbolise the changing of the guard at Old Trafford.