Brighton appoints Roberto De Zerbi as head coach on four-year deal
Brighton appoints Roberto De Zerbi as head coach on four-year deal: Brighton has appointed Roberto De Zerbi to be their head coach for four years. He was out of work for a few months after leaving Shakhtar Donetsk in July. De Zerbi previously managed Sassuolo in Italy. Graham Potter left the club earlier this month and is now the coach at Chelsea.
Brighton recognized Roberto De Zerbi’s coaching ability and have signed him on a 4 year contract. Italy has been battling Russian militaries in Ukraine for the last three years, leading to his earlier dismissal as the Serbian manager of Sassuolo. Brighton recognizes that he is a solid coach who can build on their recent success but this new term will be shorter than its predecessor.
Genarro De Zerbi is an award-winning manager, who has led Sassuolo to two 8th place finishes in Serie A and last year’s Ukrainian Super cup.
The CEO was most impressed with the work De Zebri did in London earlier this week, and so he asked them to fly to Brighton for a behind-closed-doors friendly. They watched their opponents Newcastle United play on Saturday afternoon.
Brighton have also signed deals with De Zebri’s coaching staff and hope to get the group in place for their game against Liverpool on Saturday. The Seagulls are currently in fourth spot in the Premier League, a fact which has led to rumours suggesting that Graham Potter is being thwarted in his efforts to take over at Chelsea.
Head coach De Zerbi has agreed to incoming Chairman Bloom, and the press will be notified of his arrival on Tuesday afternoon. De Zerbi’s style and tactical approach are very similar to that of our existing squad and they will suit perfectly.
Roberto di Matteo has shown his ability with his work in Italy and Ukraine, and what he achieved during his time at Sassuolo comes to show that on top of that. Di Matteo led Shakhtar Donetsk to a cup victory and the Ukrainian league crown before the war pogroms brought an abrupt halt to his time there.
We are very excited to introduce Roberto and welcome him to the squad. Roberto will provide support as well as help players implement his coaching philosophy, which has been helping the team begin their season brilliantly.
Paul Barber, Deputy Chairman and CEO of Charlton Athletic Club, stated that Roberto was the only candidate they spoke to at the start and will be on the sidelines come October. It is no secret that Chairman Les Reed constantly monitors potential coaches both in our domestic leagues and across Europe as part of this next step in Charlton’s succession planning.
Roberto is well regarded for his work with Juventus, and is the ideal candidate to let Brighton advance in the Premier League. The club have signed Roberto a two-week trial at the other end of their break from international duty, where he will be able to settle in with the players and meet their needs.
He starts his busy month in October with a trip to Liverpool on October 1, then welcomes Tottenham to the Amex in his first home game on October 8, live on Sky Sports.
Jose Mourinho and Manchester United will play on the 14th with a visit to Brentford, while the 22nd sees Brighton take on Chelsea. The 29th has an Amex vs. former manager Graham Potter match, and United playing against a side from the Eithad.
After starting his coaching career in Italy as an amateur, he took his first step in professional soccer with a few weeks at Serie A side Palermo. After failing to make any progress with the team and being relieved of his duties, he took a position at Italian Serie C club Foggia.
In 2017, De Zerbi joined recently promoted Serie A side Benevento. In 2018, he earned plaudits for his team despite their relegation back to Serie B. In 2021, De Zerbi was appointed manager of Sassuolo and he led the club to two consecutive eighth-place finishes before missing out on the Europa Conference League to Roma on goal difference in 2021. At the start of 2022 De Zerbi became the first Italian manager to nail down a spot in a Champions League qualification match as Shakhtar Donetsk. He left Shakhtar at the end of 2022 due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but never returned to management again after that.