Roberto de Zerbi: major update on Brighton boss amid departure links; most likely destination revealed
A friend of Brighton and Hove Albion manager Roberto de Zerbi has insisted he ‘won’t leave’ despite growing links with Italian giants Napoli.
The coach has overseen a tremendous season on the south coast – helping the Seagulls secure European football for the first time in their history.
As a result, De Zerbi has been the subject of interest from several top European clubs. For instance, he is believed to be one of Daniel Levy’s preferred candidates to take over at Tottenham.
Now, Serie A champions Napoli have also registered an interest in the manager, as they look for a replacement for Luciano Spaletti – who is set to take a year-long break from football.
However, it now seems that De Zerbi will remain at the Amex for at least another season. But, if he did leave, he would only join another Premier League club.
This is according to fellow Italian coach Christian Bucchi, who was interviewed by Marte Sport Live (via TuttoNapoli).
Buchi said: “I’m a friend of Roberto, we played together in Naples.
“I stayed with him in Brighton for a week and watched how he works.
“He feels great in that environment, as I’ve seen him, I think he holds on to that experience and he won’t leave Brighton because next year he can complete the splendid work he’s carrying out.
“I also think that if he leaves the current club he’d still stay in the Premier League, where he can do great things as a manager and as a coach.”
As mentioned, this season, De Zerbi has achieved remarkable things with Brighton.
The south coast club – who were only promoted to the Premier for the first time in 2016 – finished in an impressive sixth place.
As a result, Brighton are set to be playing in the Europa League next season, something their supporters couldn’t have dreamed of a few years ago.
Although, De Zerbi does have a tough job on his hands to maintain his team’s spot in the top six.
Indeed, Brighton are set to lose several key players in the summer transfer window. For instance, World Cup winning midfielder Alexis Mac Allister is expected to sign for Liverpool.
The likes of Evan Ferguson, Moises Caicedo and Robert Sanchez have also been linked with moves away from the Amex. So, De Zerbi’s squad could look very different next term.
With that in mind, it will be interesting to see if Brighton manage to sign some more top players on the cheap this summer – something they have done extremely well over the last few years.
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