Roberto De Zerbi was one of the most coveted managers in football. Photo: Ben Stansall/Getty Images
How Roberto De Zerbi took it Sitting behind the microphone at the Amex Stadium on Tuesday night, in front of a room full of Brighton fans, he must have known that his future was in question. It's just a matter of time.
The moment arrived at about 30 minutes in the evening, and the question itself: “Have assumptions about your future affected you and your motivation?” – was greeted with applause from many fans in the hall.
In response, De Zerbi paused for a few seconds, sighed, and then asked a question of his own. “Do you want the truth?”
The reaction of the audience was decisive. “I don’t work for a career,” De Zerbi continued. “I'm working on waking up happy in the morning. And if I'm happy in the future at Brighton, there's no team that can take me.
“But if I'm not happy in the morning — if I don't feel motivated to work like last season or this season — everything can change because I can't give it my all. I think if I can give it my all, I can push the players. Otherwise it's hard. Because I can't change my face. If I don’t believe or feel something strong, bigger than football, bigger than work, it’s hard for me.”
Was this an answer that would reassure those supporters who fear he might leave? Probably no. But that was not the point. Instead, de Zerby said he had no plans to exit. He has no plans for a new job. He's not trying to climb the corporate ladder using Brighton as a stepping stone. Everything is much simpler: if De Zerbi is happy, De Zerbi will stay.
So the question for Brighton is whether they can make him happy without deviating from their model. Paul Barber, the club's chief executive, joked on a fans' forum that «every morning I bring him a cappuccino, croissants, whatever he needs», but there is a serious point here. De Zerbi is an ambitious man and Brighton's challenge since his arrival has always been to reconcile his short-term desires with the club's long-term strategy.
At the moment, Telegraph Sport understands first-team players » Brighton have no idea whether their coach will stay or leave. Many of them are in love with De Zerbi, and some might even think about their future if he leaves. Brighton must therefore carefully prepare for both scenarios.
Players love De Zerbi very much. Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images Not long ago, it seemed inevitable that a bigger team would opt for De Zerbi. As winter turned to spring, vacancies appeared at Liverpool, Barcelona and Bayern. However, these roles are gradually being filled. Arne Sloth moves to Liverpool, Xavi Hernandez remains in Barcelona, and Bayern is still preferring alternative options.
It is now entirely possible that De Zerbi will remain where he is. And if he started thinking more strategically or, as he puts it, “working for a career,” he might even come to the conclusion that staying at Brighton for another year might be a better decision.
Why? Because this season went horribly, largely due to injuries, and his stock began to fall as a result. In the Premier League, Brighton have won only once in their last nine matches.
Of course, many clubs have been hit by injuries this season, but Brighton's fitness problems have been particularly difficult to endure. For most of the campaign, De Zerbi was without both of his main strikers, Kaoru Mitoma and Solly March. Julio Enciso missed most of the year. Pervis Estupinan, who was so instrumental in last season's success, and Evan Ferguson have been plagued by injuries. Jack Hinshelwood came in, impressed and then was sidelined for a few months.
Earlier this week, Brighton announced the appointment of a new chief medical officer, Professor Dr Florian Pfab, and a new chief executive, Dr Gary Walker. Both will join the club ahead of next season, with Brighton hoping to overcome the injury crisis that has so damaged their hopes of back-to-back European qualification.
A lack of European football could help Brighton next season.The sales of Alexis McAllister (to Liverpool) and Moises Caicedo (to Chelsea) were also hurt. Brighton never wanted to sell Caicedo and indeed planned for young Carlos Baleba (signed from Lille for £23m) to learn from him this season. However, when Chelsea offered £115 million, the deal was too good to pass up.
With Europa League action to be played on Thursday night and all these players in the treatment room, the team are struggling for stability. They now look shattered: after Sunday's defeat to Bournemouth, De Zerbi said the players lacked «soul» in the game.
Crucially, for De Zerbi as a manager and for the club as a whole, there is good reason to believe that next season will be a much more enjoyable one.
Brighton do not need or want to sell any of their key players to this in the summer and he will continue to invest in new talent as they have done, spending a total fee of around £100 million on Joao Pedro, Baleba, Bart Verbruggen, Igor and Valentin Barco over the last two windows. Ibrahim Osman, a stunning young striker, has already been signed for £16 million from FC Nordsjælland.
Without Thursday night football taking its toll on the team, with greater investment in the first team this summer and their With star players stepping up again, there is every reason to believe that De Zerbi can restore Brighton as genuine elite contenders. This will undoubtedly make him happier than ever when he wakes up in the morning, and all the more attractive to the biggest clubs in Europe.
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