De Zerbi takes the reins at Brighton
Brighton have appointed roberto de Zerbi as their new manager replacing graham Potter, who left for Chelsea last week. the 43-year-old italian has signed a four-year deal and will have time to work with the players during the international break. Chairman tony Bloom said: ‘i am absolutely thrilled roberto has agreed to become our new head coach. roberto’s teams play an exciting and courageous brand of football and i am confident his style and tactical approach will suit our existing squad superbly.’ De Zerbi flew into Sussex on Friday night and watched a behind-closed-doors friendly at the Amex on Saturday afternoon. Brighton had been wary of the appointment being hijacked by Juventus, because the italian giants are considering sacking Max Allegri.
Juve have won just twice all season and not once this month, leaving Allegri under mounting scrutiny. he suffered another setback yesterday when Juventus lost to bottom-of-the-table Monza, ramping up the pressure on their boss, with Juventus assessing their options. So Brighton moved quickly to secure the services of De Zerbi and announced his appointment last night.
De Zerbi’s last club was Shakhtar Donetsk, whom he left in July — after just over a year at the helm, including a Super Cup victory and 20 wins in 30 games — due to russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Before Shakhtar, De Zerbi impressed at Sassuolo, earning admiration for his style of play and tactical awareness — leading them to successive eighth-place finishes.
De Zerbi was also manager of Foggia, Palermo and Benevento, before his breakthrough success at Sassuolo from 2018-21. Brighton had been looking for a new manager since Potter was prised away by Chelsea to replace the sacked thomas tuchel. Former Brighton captain Andrew Crofts was named interim first-team manager with current player Adam Lallana part of the coaching staff. the cancellation of Brighton’s two games since Potter’s departure denied them the chance to take charge of the side in the Premier League, but gave chairman Bloom breathing space to secure De Zerbi.