Roberto De Zerbi is one of the most in-demand managers in all of football right now. In just the last two weeks, he has been concretely linked to Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Napoli, and Manchester United. Another recent report now says the Italian is not in contention for the Barcelona job.
According to Mundo Deportivo reporter Fernando Polo, Barcelona do not want to hire De Zerbi because he does not have experience managing a big club like Barcelona. Polo also says Brighton’s asking price for De Zerbi is more than La Blaugrana are willing to pay.
“His inexperience with top-level clubs and the fact that he has a release clause of €10m-€25m play against (De Zerbi),” the bombshell report says.
This news is good news for Brighton fans who want to keep their manager around, but it doesn’t completely rule out his departure this summer. Multiple reports from Germany have confirmed that De Zerbi is Bayern Munich’s ‘Plan B’ if they cannot sign Xabi Alonso from Bayer Leverkusen.
Reports from England say Liverpool are in the exact same situation with De Zerbi. If the Merseyside club cannot get Alonso, they will push hard to sign De Zerbi from Brighton instead.
There’s always a chance that another big job opens up in the summer as well. Manchester United, AC Milan, Juventus, and Newcastle all could be looking for a new manager this summer. De Zerbi would likely be a major contender for each of those jobs.
In addition to ruling out De Zerbi from the Barcelona job, Mundo Deportivo also say that Barcelona will not hire Mikel Arteta, Thomas Tuchel, or Julian Nagelsmann.
Arteta, La Masia academy graduate, is no longer on Barca’s shortlist because the club doesn’t think he’s willing to leave Premier League contenders Arsenal now. Tuchel’s contentious and “irregular” personality has put off Barca. Like De Zerbi, La Blaugrana aren’t interested in Nagelsmann until he succeeds at a big club.
It seems like Barcelona will have to look long and hard for the perfect coach next season, and their options seem few and far between.
