Barcelona are struggling to settle on the perfect option for their next manager, and perhaps the most appealing candidate is out of their reach. Brighton manager Roberto de Zerbi is set be one of the hottest properties on the market this summer, but Brighton CEO Paul Barber has made it clear that he is not on the market.
De Zerbi is the only name on Barcelona’s supposed mamnagerial shortlist that isn’t German. He is likely to be considered for the Liverpool job though, while Florian Plettenberg has declared that Bayern Munich will also look at the Italian coach as an option.
🔴🆕🔴 News De Zerbi: Alonso remains the absolute preferred solution for all of the FC Bayern bosses to replace Tuchel. Eberl wants him too. More talks will follow soon ✔️
➡️ However, Bayern consider a plan B and C if the Alonso plan falls through. And one of the coaches being… pic.twitter.com/rqVSyI2J5h
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) February 27, 2024
Barber told the BBC that he wanted de Zerbi at the Amex Stadium as long as possible.
“We want Roberto to stay as long as possible because he’s doing a great job. It’s not rocket science to work out that the better someone does in a job, the more they’re going to be linked with other jobs and potentially at bigger clubs that are playing in even higher-level competitions than us.”
🚨 Simone Inzaghi is also in Barça's mind to replace Xavi. @tuttosport pic.twitter.com/aNhknhcA9z
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) February 28, 2024
“We’ve got to shed off this constant thing of ‘we’re a feeder club for the bigger clubs, whether it is players, coaches or staff’. We’re actually doing OK. We’re still humble, we’re still very cognisant of where we’ve come from and the journey we’re still on, but we’ve also got a lot of good things going here. I’m confident that means a lot of good people want to come here and also stay here.”
The problem for Barcelona that de Zerbi has a release clause somewhere betwen €10-15m, a fee Barcelona will not consider paying. As such, if de Zerbi does want to join Barcelona, he will need to negotiate an exit with Brighton. Equally, the Blaugrana appear to be unsure of their next move, if reports that Xavi Hernandez has been asked to reconsider his decision to leave are true, then it illustrates a lack of trust that Brighton would agree to let him go for anything less than his clause.
