Fabrizio Romano discloses Arsenal’s new ‘top candidate’ for sporting director role | OneFootball

Arsenal are in the market for a new sporting director, and one of the names in the mix is Andrea Berta, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Italian left Atletico Madrid at the start of January after spending over a decade at the club. His tenure has seen him rise to being one of the best in his position in the world.

At Atletico, he initially joined as part of the international scouting department before climbing the ranks to technical director and, eventually, sporting director in 2017. Now, he’s looking for a fresh challenge – and Arsenal could be his next destination, per Romano.

The transfer guru posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Understand Andrea Berta is now the top candidate to become new Arsenal director in order to replace Edu. Discussions already took place, Berta left Atlético after building the team with key signings in the recent years. Talks at advanced stage, not done/sealed yet.”

The Gunners have been on the hunt for a replacement since Edu stepped down late last year. Jason Ayto has been filling in on an interim basis, but the club is weighing up multiple candidates for the permanent role to fill Edu’s shoes.

Reports last week suggested that Arsenal plan to make a final decision by March. If Berta were to land the role, he would likely join in the summer.

During his time at Atletico, Berta played a key role in the club’s success, helping them secure two La Liga titles, a Europa League trophy, and a UEFA Super Cup.

Andrea Berta (left) along with Alvaro Morata (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)

Mikel Arteta claims he won’t have much say in hiring sporting director

When asked about the sporting director situation after the window closed, Mikel Arteta made it clear that the decision is firmly in the club’s hands.

“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.”