Manchester United have identified Atletico Madrid sporting director Andrea Berta as a leading candidate to be their first director of football.

Chief executive Ed Woodward is planning a major restructuring of the club's football operations behind the scenes.

That includes hiring a director of football for the first time, who can work closely with the manager in identifying and recruiting transfer targets.

Andrea Berta is a leading candidate to be Manchester United's new director of football

Berta helped mastermind the signing of Antoine Griezmann at Atletico Madrid

Atletico's Italian chief Berta tops the list, with Juventus' Fabio Paratici and former Tottenham transfer guru Paul Mitchell also on their radar, according to the Evening Standard.

They claim United have already registered their interest as they aim to make an appointment by the end of the year.

Berta was hired as Atletico's sporting director just last year but has been part of the recruitment team since joining from Genoa in 2013.

He helped mastermind the signings of Antoine Griezmann and Jan Oblak.

Chief executive wants to shake up football operations to help United manager Jose Mourinho

The director also brought striker Diego Costa back to Madrid from Chelsea and has managed to secure Griezmann and Diego Godin - who was a deadline-day target for United - down to long-term deals.

Berta was originally linked with United when Mourinho succeeded Louis van Gaal in 2016, in what was considered a dream scenario.

But Woodward himself opted to be hands on when it came to recruitment and it is clear that despite resisting initially, there is a desire to bring a dedicated person in.

Juventus director Fabio Paratici is another big name that appeals to Woodward and United

Failings in the last transfer window, namely to sanction a move for England and Leicester City defender Harry Maguire, has seen Woodward and Mourinho at odds.

The appeal of Juve's Paratici is the breadth and creativity of his signings in recent summers.

United, who will face the Italian champions in this season's Champions League, have long admired Juve's recruitment policy with Leonardo Bonucci, Arturo Vidal, Paul Pogba, Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain and namely Cristiano Ronaldo heading to Turin under Paratici's watch.