Every single striker Arsenal’s imminent new sporting director Andrea Berta has signed at Atletico Madrid, including transfer target

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Arsenal are edging close to appointing former Atletico Madrid sporting director Andrea Berta as their replacement for Edu Gaspar.

Edu left Arsenal in November after agreeing on a new role that will see him handle the network of clubs owned by Evangelos Marinakis.

Jason Ayto has stood in for the Brazilian on an interim basis since the departure, and the Englishman has received criticism from Gunners fans for the club’s lack of activity in the January transfer market.

Despite this, Ayto is among the list of contenders to become Arsenal’s new sporting director, although it appears a leading candidate has emerged.

Fabrizio Romano revealed that Berta is leading the race to take the job, in a potential move that should have fans excited.

• READ MORE: Who is Andrea Berta? Everything you need to know about new Arsenal sporting director target

Every striker Arsenal sporting director target Andrea Berta signed for Atletico Madrid

After enjoying successful roles at Parma and Genoa in Italy, Atletico Madrid appointed Berta as their technical director in 2013.

Overseeing a hugely successful period for the La Liga giants, Berta earned the title of sporting director in 2017, and only left the Spanish capital in January of this year.

His eleven-year spell at Atletico coincided with numerous exceptional strikers being added to Diego Simeone’s squad, most of whom’s signing would’ve been driven by Berta himself.

Arsenal are desperate for a striker acquisition, and thus Gunners fans will be delighted to hear of the Italian football administrator’s successful track record of recruiting number nines.

The big-money additions on Berta’s resume are Julian Alvarez and Joao Felix, who arrived at the Metropolitano for a combined €201 million.

While the former has proven successful and the latter hasn’t, these signings show that the sporting director isn’t afraid to spend big when needed.

Matheus Cunha will jump out to Arsenal fans on the list of Berta striker signings, with the Brazilian heavily linked with a move to the Emirates.

While the North London club weren’t able to get a deal over the line for the Wolves star, Cunha is said to remain a target for Arsenal ahead of the summer.

Berta signed the Premier League star after he’d enjoyed a relatively fruitful season at Hertha Berlin, and this pre-existing relationship could serve Arsenal well in their potential pursuit of Cunha.

Some of the other notable striker signings include David Villa, Raul Jimenez, Antoine Griezmann, Mario Mandzukic, Fernando Torres, Diego Costa, Alvaro Morta and Memphis Depay, all of whom largely impressed in Madrid.

• READ MORE: Andrea Berta ‘turned down’ talks with European giants as Arsenal deal ‘very close’ for next sporting director

Arsenal should target Mathues Cunha under Andrea Berta

If Berta is indeed appointed as Arsenal’s new sporting director, then the club should be looking to leverage his extensive list of contacts as much as possible.

Cunha is clearly a player of interest to Arteta, and thus the Gunners should be aggressively pursuing him.

Wolves inserted a £62 million release clause into Cunha’s new contract, so negotiating with the West Midlands club shouldn’t be an issue.

However, the former Atletico forward is likely to have plenty of suitors, meaning they’ll have to convince the 25-year-old to ply his trade in North London.

With Berta at the helm, this should be very achievable, and thus Cunha should be considered a primary target.