Spanish soccer expert Guillem Balague told BBC Sport: “He is quite unique compared to other sports directors.
“He did not have a career as a player, he started in the bank, and only entered football later, first in Carpenedolo, an amateur club, then in Parma and Genoa, where he built key connections with Peter Kenyon and Jorge Mendes.
“Under his watch, Atlético won two titles from the League (2013-14, 2020-21), a Copa del Rey (2013), a Europa League (2017-18) and an UEFA Super Cup (2018).
“It is seen as the architect of the reconstructed team after the 2014 -title winning team vanished.”
Working with the manager Diego Simeone, Berta helped Atlético to make some cunning acquisitions during that reconstruction.
The France of France Griezmann was signed of Royal Socity for £ 24.8 million in 2014 and five years later it was sold to Barcelona for £ 103 million. Atlético then bought it in 2021 for only £ 16.5m.
The midfielder of Spain, Rodri, now winner of Ballon d’Or, was signed by £ 16.5 million in 2018 and sold to Manchester City the following year for £ 62.5 million, while the Slovenian goalkeeper Oblak signed from Benfica in 2014 for only 13 million. It is now widely considered one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
More recently, striker Julian Álvarez joined Manchester City last summer for £ 81.5 million and has scored 23 goals for Atlético this season.
“He brought key players like Griezmann (twice), Luis Suárez, Kieran Trippier, Llorente, Paul and Julian Alvarez,” Balague added.
“But he also had some failures, such as Joao Felix, Kalinic, Arias, Torreira, but always worked within the club’s financial limits.
“In total, he made 52 signings since 2017, spending around 828 million euros (£ 692 million), leaving a great mark in the Atlético squad. An end of an era for them.”
