Andrea Berta has impressed in his first six months at Arsenal, filling the void left by Edu Gaspar’s surprise departure last season.
After a productive summer transfer window, the Italian sporting director’s primary focus is extending some contracts, and the club have reportedly agreed a new five-year deal with William Saliba, which is an astronomical development.
His start has been full of promise and Mikel Arteta will be delighted. We’ve ranked Berta’s top five decisions in his short time at the Emirates.
5) The striker search
Arsenal’s search for a new striker frustrated fans before they went all-in on Viktor Gyokeres, who was always Berta’s preferred choice over Benjamin Sesko.
It was a straight shootout between the more experienced, proven goalscorer Gyokeres and the younger, more exciting and versatile Sesko, who ended up leaving RB Leipzig for Manchester United after Arsenal opted for the Swede.
Reports suggested that Berta and Arsenal were being meticulous in their research, refusing to rush into signing one of the two. The club wanted their new striker signed in time to play in Hong Kong during pre-season, but the Premier League season was still a long way off, and Berta was acutely aware of that.
Berta was diving deep into the price of both players and what they could bring to this Arsenal side. While the jury is still out on Gyokeres, it was incredibly important that an out-and-out centre-forward was signed, as the Emirates faithful have been crying out for one since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left in 2022.
With the benefit of hindsight, it’s a shame Hugo Ekitike was not more seriously considered by Berta. Silly red cards aside, he looks absolutely incredible. Oh, and if Alexander Isak had gone AWOL a couple of weeks earlier, he could’ve been lining up for the Gunners instead of Liverpool…
4) Cristhian Mosquera deal
The finances involved in signing Mosquera from Valencia were…outrageous. As his early Premier League performances have shown, the 21-year-old centre-back is a very talented and confident player. He passed the Anfield test on his competitive debut, for crying out loud.
Mosquera’s Valencia contract was due to expire in 2026, which massively played into Arsenal’s hands, but the £13million fee was still an absolute snip. The fact he was convinced, with Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba ahead of him, to choose the Gunners over other top clubs is a testament both of where Arsenal are right now and to how good Berta is at his job.
Arteta is not shy about giving Mosquera minutes at full-back and, despite being a man mountain, he’s more than capable of playing there.
His potential is enormous. And he’s not half bad already.
3) Signing Ebere Eze
Berta and Arteta’s hands were forced by an injury to Kai Havertz, which would have guiltily delighted Eze, who secured a dream move to the club he was let go by as a young whippersnapper. He was close to joining Tottenham Hotspur, which would’ve been an excellent career move for him, but Arsenal’s hijack proved the perfect outcome.
Spurs’ loss (but was it?) was Arsenal’s gain and, in completely anti-Arsenal fashion, they acted ruthlessly and decisively in their pursuit of Eze, getting the deal done swiftly and announcing the signing in front of the Emirates crowd before a Premier League game against Leeds, just days after initiating the hijack.
The signing of Eze in itself is an excellent piece of business from Berta, but the manner in which the deal was executed was so uncharacteristically brilliant. Edu could never.
2) Tying down Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly
Arsenal have agreed new long-term, high-salary contracts with two of the best English teenagers under Berta’s watch. Sure, you might think anyone posing as a sporting director could convince a young, local lad to stay by putting £50,000 a week on the table, but it’s not quite that simple.
Particularly with Nwaneri, there was a challenge in promising him the right pathway into the first team. Club captain Martin Odegaard is ahead of him in the midfield pecking order, and Bukayo Saka has the right-wing spot nailed down for the next decade — assuming he remains injury-free for the majority of his Arsenal career.
If there is a route through for Nwaneri, it involves dislodging one of the club’s most influential players or making an impact off the bench and in cup competitions before reaching an age when a lack of playing time becomes a serious hindrance to his career.
Both players are destined for huge futures at Arsenal and for England as well. Lewis-Skelly is already an England regular, having been called up for all three of Thomas Tuchel’s camps. Arteta currently favours Riccardo Calafiori at left-back, but with the Italian’s injury struggles and the sheer volume of games this season, Lewis-Skelly is destined for plenty of minutes.
READ: Arsenal pair among world’s highest-paid teenagers after signing new contracts
1) Extending William Saliba’s contract
This isn’t confirmed yet, but it’s looking very promising.
With Saliba essentially done, Berta’s next objective is to extend Saka’s contract. If their French defender is confident enough to commit long-term after three straight years without a trophy, and with genuine interest from Real Madrid, then surely the Hale End favourite will be too.
Saliba is widely regarded as one of the best centre-backs in Europe and forms what many believe is the best partnership on the continent with Gabriel. Crucially, the Brazilian is also tied down until 2029.
Saliba’s new deal will keep him at Arsenal for a year longer and the importance of that cannot be overstated.
Madrid’s interest was a genuine concern for the fanbase, but the Arsenal hierarchy stayed calm. Berta came in knowing Saliba’s future was one of his biggest tasks, and getting it wrapped up by October is massive. Now, Andrea, it’s time to turn your attention to Saka.
