Ranking Andrea Berta’s best decisions in first year as Arsenal sporting director | OneFootball

Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta deserves a lot of credit for coming in and helping deliver the Premier League trophy to the Emirates in his first year at the club.

It’s safe to say the Italian supremo has successfully filled the void left by Edu Gaspar’s surprise departure last year.

After such an incredible first season working alongside Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, we’ve ranked Berta’s top six decisions so far.

6) Cristhian Mosquera deal

The finances involved in signing Mosquera from Valencia were outrageous. The 21-year-old centre-back is clearly very talented and confident, passing the Anfield test on his competitive debut.

Mosquera’s Valencia contract was due to expire in 2026, which massively played into Arsenal’s hands, but the £13million fee was still a 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.

Despite being a man mountain, Mosquera is a very capable right-back and looks likely to start there in the Champions League final.

His potential is enormous. And he’s not half bad already.

5) 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, but instead joined their rivals and proceeded to score five goals in two Premier League games against them, including a hat-trick at the Emirates.

Spurs’ loss 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.

4) 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 had been crying out for one since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left in 2022.

Maybe Hugo Ekitike would have been the best option but there’s no doubt that Gyokeres’ signing helped elevate Arsenal to Premier League glory. He has been improving every week and while his goal return of 14 in 35 league games is viewed as underwhelming by some, his overall play and presence have made a significant difference.

3) 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. That is because a loan spell at Marseille in the second half of this season has done him no favours.

Both Nwaneri and Miles Lewis-Skelly are destined for huge futures at Arsenal and for England as well. The latter previously established himself as an England regular, having been called up for all three of Thomas Tuchel’s camps, before a lack of game time until recently. Arteta clearly favours Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie at left-back, but Lewis-Skelly has taken his chance in midfield and could start the Champions League final over big-money summer signing Martin Zubimendi.

2) Extending Bukayo Saka’s contract

In February, Arsenal’s Starboy signed a new contract until 2030, and that means absolutely everything to the club’s fanbase, who adore Bukayo Saka.

Tying Saka down to a long-term deal was imperative for Arsenal and, for everything he has produced over the last six years, he is more than deserving of being the club’s highest earner.

Saka reportedly earns around £300,000 a week and his loyalty and dedication are unmatched. He is now a Premier League champion and, surely, the floodgates will open for him and his team-mates when it comes to trophies.

1) Extending William Saliba’s contract

Amid genuine interest from Real Madrid, keeping Saliba for the long term was a real concern due to the lack of silverware during Arteta’s reign.

The French international is widely regarded as one of the best centre-backs in Europe and forms what many believe is the best defensive partnership on the continent alongside Gabriel.

Despite Saliba being good enough to play for anyone, Arsenal and Andrea Berta kept calm and convinced the defender to commit his future to the club he supported as a young boy. Now a Premier League winner, Saliba has the chance to beat his hometown club, Paris Saint-Germain, in the Champions League final on May 30 and cement himself as an Arsenal legend.