It has taken less than 24 hours for Brighton to respond to claims that a number of big clubs, including Manchester United, have identified Roberto De Zerbi as a managerial candidate.
Although the Seagulls are having a topsy-turvy campaign, as they sit 9th in the Premier League, De Zerbi is being linked with a big move in the summer.
De Zerbi impressed everyone last season with his style of play as Brighton finished sixth-place in the Premier League. As the first manager to lead the club into a European competition, Brighton fans can’t be blamed for fearing that one of the bigger clubs could pip their manager at the end of the season.
Brighton CEO Paul Barber has been quick to address reports that De Zerbi could leave the Amex Stadium in the coming months, noting that they expect the Italian coach to make a step up at some point in the future.
“We don’t want to lose De Zerbi, he is an outstanding coach, probably one of the best in the world already, and that is going to make him attractive,” Barber told The Athletic.
“But I think Roberto loves Brighton, he loves the club, the people, the infrastructure that we have, and there is this sense that the work he is doing is good for him as well as for us.
“But that still means at some point in the future he may choose to take that skill base that he has elsewhere – we understand that.”
Liverpool are going to appoint a new manager in the summer following Jurgen Klopp’s departure, and De Zerbi is among the top candidates linked with the job at Anfield.
Meanwhile, The Telegraph (£) claims any club looking to appoint De Zerbi in the summer will have to pay Brighton’s £12m compensation package. This means that the comments from Barber suggest once a compensation fee is paid, Brighton will not stand in De Zerbi’s way of a move to a bigger club.
Other clubs that will be available this summer include Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
At United, there are no guarantees that Erik ten Hag will be in charge next season. The lack of clarity is making life easy for the media as they’ve started linking us with every manager under the sun.
When asked about the work De Zerbi has done at Brighton, Barber added: “Roberto is doing a fantastic job. The evolution from the work Graham [Potter] did, which was outstanding, on top of the work Chris did, which was outstanding, has taken us to another level.
“With that comes more risk, on and off the field. The risk on the field is obvious. We have a very open, attacking style of play and occasionally that will be unpicked.”
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