It was a cold morning in early 2024 when Manchester City staff arriving at the Etihad Campus were left in disbelief.
City are usually best in class when it comes to succession planning for senior executives, but Manchester United had just taken their chief football operations officer, Omar Berrada, from under their noses.
Into the void stepped Rafi Moersen. When Pep Guardiola wanted a player tied down to a new contract, Moersen would be the man tasked with getting it done. His reputation in English football grew rapidly and, now director of football operations at Tottenham Hotspur, he is regarded as a “rising star” off the pitch.
A ‘sharp operator’
At Tottenham, chief executive Vinai Venkatesham remains “top of the tree”, calling the shots. “It’s Vinai, then Rafi, but primarily Vinai,” one source said. Moersen reports to sporting director Johan Lange on transfers and helped oversee a summer spend of over £300m.
