Manchester United great Wayne Rooney makes crucial Omar Berrada point about Man City

Manchester United landed a blow on Manchester City when they named Omar Berrada as their new Chief Executive Officer.

It stung because Berrada was so senior at City and so well regarded that he had been spoken about in the succession plans around their biggest jobs. It also hurt because it has been a while since the Blues have gazed across at Old Trafford and seen smart recruitment.

City have finished above United in the Premier League table for the last 10 years, and it would need an odd turn of events not to make that 11. Having played second fiddle to their neighbours for years, there were barely any years of competitive rivalry before City streaked away and left United in their dust thanks to being so much more coherent as an organisation and not so complacent as to rely on past models or a sense of history.

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As they plan for the future, the Blues may have to start treating United as a serious threat again given a string of recruitments that could also extend for former academy director Jason Wilcox. However, they can also be confident that this is not the start of a landslide back towards Old Trafford being the centre of power in Manchester.

That was the message when Berrada left, and that has been helpfully added to by former United great Wayne Rooney. Rooney flirted with a City move as a player when he sensed the direction of ambition at the Etihad and said on Wednesday that he would walk to the ground if Pep Guardiola offered him a job as assistant coach.

"For me, the best manager is Pep," he said on the Overlap. "You look at how he adapts. How they're playing now is not