Man City get Manchester United boost over Premier League charges

Don't let anyone tell you that Manchester United getting Omar Berrada from Manchester City is not a coup.

There may be more senior figures at the club but there aren't many than a COO who has been at the heart of the recruitment and financial strategy that has seen the Blues crowned as the best club in the world on the pitch and the one with the biggest revenues English football has ever seen off it. There is enough strength at City for them to be confident they can thrive without Berrada, yet if they had their way he would still be working there biding his time to succeed either sporting director Txiki Begiristain or CEO Ferran Soriano.

It looks like a smart appointment from United that must be seen as the fresh impetus and improved thinking provided by their new sporting operation, given the last decade has been full of second-rate decisions that have seen the Reds fall well behind City on every sporting metric. However, the appointment of Berrada cannot be seen without looking briefly through the lens of City's Premier League charges.

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Most in the country have presumed City guilty of their alleged financial misrepresentations, and there are plenty of United fans who have spent a good while assuming without evidence that City's success is down to cheating. It is certainly reassuring for fans of rival clubs to think that the main reason for them not winning things is that their opponents are playing by different rules rather than they are better at the same rules.

However, unless United's new regime has risked the embarrassment of having their first CEO of