Roberto De Zerbi, the manager of Brighton, has been connected to five more teams as another week is almost over.
The Brighton manager is busy getting his players ready for Sunday’s match against Liverpool at Anfield. The manager’s contract with the Seagulls expires in June 2026.
Despite De Zerbi’s rumored £12 million release clause from Brighton, elite clubs in the Premier League and throughout Europe have not shied away from reaching out to the Italian.
De Zerbi reportedly has a release clause of around £12m at Brighton but that has not prevented top clubs from the Premier League and across Europe from sounding out the Italian.
Liverpool continue their search to replace Jurgen Klopp at the end of the season, while Man United, Napoli and Barcelona all continue to be mentioned. Bayern Munich is a another rumour that has gathered pace this week as they seem to be locked in a battle with Liverpool for the Bayer Leverkusen boss – and former Liverpool and Bayern Munich player – Xabi Alonso. The speculation merry-go-round looks set to continue for some time but Brighton CEO and deputy chairman Paul Barber previously stated that Brighton will be well-prepared to replace De Zerbi – if and when the time comes.
Speaking just a few weeks after the Italian was appointed—he took over for Graham Potter in September 2022—Barber stated that they were already looking for De Zerbi’s replacement.
Speaking to Sky Sports in October 2022, Barber remarked, “It sounds strange, but almost as soon as new manager comes in, we are looking for the next one.”
“Such is football and such is the nature of it. We did not expect to lose Graham when we did and we put a lot of work into the type of manager we wanted to replace him.
“We are looking at the style of play of coaches all over Europe. What resources they are working with and what results they are getting from those resources.
“We then form a shortlist and that shortlist becomes very important at a time just recently when Graham left us.”
