Update: Since first publishing this profile of Andrea Berta, the Italian was promoted to sporting director of Atletico Madrid, replacing Jose Luis Caminero in the process.



The change was made in 2017 - only after PSG had offered him the staggering salary of €14 million.



Berta continues to be linked with United, where it has been agreed to create the position of technical director for the first time. Interestingly, Atletico and Berta lost chief scout Gerardo Guzman to United, where he now acts as their Spanish and Portuguese talent spotter.

For more on Berta, read on:





Andrea Berta. If there's one football director Jose Mourinho would be willing to work with at Manchester United, it would be the Italian.

After the meltdown of his relationship with Michael Emenalo, its understandable doubts have been raised over whether Mourinho would ever accept working with a football director again. The situation became so toxic at Stamford Bridge that in the end the pair were not on speaking terms. Emenalo even refused to acknowledge Mourinho by name when discussing his departure in December.

But Berta, currently overseeing his 'second' Atletico Madrid team built in partnership with sports director Jose Luis Caminero, is a very much different prospect.

The Italian, who has spent five years with Atletico, can count on the support of Portuguese super agent Jorge Mendes, who also, of course, represents Mourinho. Indeed, when (not if) the Special One is confirmed by Ed Woodward, United's executive vice-chairman, as Louis van Gaal's successor, Tribalfootball.com has learned the offer to Berta to join the new-look team at Carrington will be relayed through Mendes. The Portuguese doesn't represent Berta, but the pair have become close with so many of Mendes' clients moving through Atletico over these past five years.

But the Mourinho link doesn't end there.

It was actually on the recommendation of Peter Kenyon, the former United and Chelsea chief exec, that Atletico president Enrique Cerezo took on Berta back in 2010. Kenyon and Mourinho worked together during the latter's first spell at Chelsea and they're still in touch.

Mourinho has been briefed on Berta and has welcomed Woodward's plan to buy him out of his Atletico contract.

In Madrid, Cerezo remains hopeful of keeping his technical team together. Having secured coach Diego Simeone to a new five-year deal in March, Cerezo is now quietly urging Berta to do the same. His current contract runs to June 2017.

A banker in his former life, Berta received his break in football through a cousin of former Italy coach Cesare Prandelli, with his first job as a sporting director at AC Carpenedolo. From there, Berta was taken on by former Parma president Tommaso Ghirardi before a personality clash led him to Bologna ahead of Kenyon's intervention in 2010.

Berta arrived in Madrid primarily as an international scout, to work under Caminero. But such has been his influence on two outstanding teams during his time with Atleti, that they're now regarded as equals. Indeed, some Madrid sources rate Berta as the more significant director, with Atleti powerbroker Miguel Angel Gil Marin now taking the Italian with him on their regular scouting trips to South America.

In Spain, Berta remains a mystery. The Italian has never given an interview to the local media. And though he is a lot friendlier with the Italian press, like David Gill, the former United exec, Berta isn't one for courting publicity.

Indeed, he's perhaps the best football director the game has never known. For while there's barely a footprint in the media, for the past 12 months, Berta has been courted by some of Europe's biggest clubs.

Kenyon, having helped Peter Lim complete his takeover of Valencia, recommended Berta to the Singaporean billionaire. But Cerezo refused to do business. Last year, Erick Thohir, Inter Milan's Indonesian owner, made an approach, hoping to tempt Berta back home. But again, Cerezo was steadfast and Berta lukewarm on the prospect of leaving Madrid.

The closest Berta came from being tempted away was last January when AC Milan came calling. With Barbara Berlusconi, the daughter of Milan president Silvio Berlusconi, championing him inside the boardroom, there was a genuine feeling that Berta could replace the high-regarded Adriano Galliani as the Rossoneri's football chief going into this season. But Cerezo was having none of it.

"He is a great sporting director," said the president, "working with Caminero and Simeone, they form a fantastic trio for my Atletico Madrid.

"As for the future, he is happy: he remains with us.

"We have a good relationship with the Rossoneri. But Berta is our leader and we will hold him tight."

But with less than 18 months to run on Berta's current deal, that grip is loosening. And with Mourinho and Mendes in his ear, plus the prospect of working with the biggest transfer budget in football, the odds are stacked against Cerezo staging another successful resistance.