by Brighton’s European adventure will resume this week but not Roberto De Zerbi. Although chairman Tony Bloom was among the 3,500 fans who made the pilgrimage to the Eternal City for Thursday’s Europa League tie against Roma, the first meeting with Serie A opposition, he is no stranger to manager of the Italian stadiums and returns to his homeland. with his stock higher than ever.
It doesn’t matter that Brighton have gone three games without a win and come into the Europa League last-16 with a number of absences due to injury including their star player Kaoru Mitoma. It is their manager who most impresses the visitors, although De Zerbi rejected his opposite number Daniele De Rossi’s description of him as a “genius” when he took to the court at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday evening.
“I don’t see myself as a genius,” he said. “I don’t think I’m better than other people but I’m not afraid to work hard and I don’t lack courage. What makes a difference is probably my passion for football. I don’t see myself as smarter than anyone else. I am very honest about this. But I’m not afraid to try something if I believe in it. I don’t think about negative consequences.”
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That has been evident since De Zerbi was brought in to replace Graham Potter in October 2022, with Brighton’s prospects confused last season finishing sixth and dealing with the departure of key midfielders Moisés Caicedo and Alexis McAllister during the summer. But while he insisted the Premier League remained a priority, De Zerbi also admitted that a club that was playing in League One as recently as 2011 should savor the significant progress they have made as they prepare for played in front of 70,000 fans at the venue for the 1960 Olympic Games.
“We are here not only to reach the last eight but because we are writing history,” he said. “It’s unprecedented and makes the club and supporters proud. I am very proud to be back here with my team. I usually fall in love with my teams and my players. But this is a team that I love a lot, a team that can lose 3-0, can be trashed and overdone but you have to look at the level of this team and they always bounce back with pride and hunger.”
Whether this could be the culmination of the 44-year-old’s spell in charge of the south coast is a question most Brighton supporters dread to answer. Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United have all been linked with a potential move for De Zerbi at the end of the season, although they would have to pay more than £12m in compensation as his current contract expires in 2026.
Bloom, who boss of recruitment Sam Jewell has seen become the 11th player or member of staff to move to Stamford Bridge in the last 18 months since Potter started the trend, is sure to be already planning for the future regardless of what happens in the coming weeks is ahead of us. . But De Zerbi insisted several times that he was happy with Brighton, even if the former Foggia, Palermo and Sassuolo coach would not rule out a return to Serie A in the future.
“It’s not true that I don’t think about it,” he said. “I usually do what makes me happy and right now that’s where I’m at. I am fortunate to compete with this team at this level. It makes me happy when we win but when we lose it’s special. One day I will go back to Italy. I don’t know when it will come. But when I made the choice to go to Shakhtar I did it because I wanted to find a way outside of Italy. Without going into too much detail, there were a few things in Italy that I didn’t like. I decided to do something else.”
De Rossi, who took over from José Mourinho as Roma’s interim coach in January and has made it four straight wins in all competitions, revealed earlier that his daughter Gaia has become friendly with De Zerbi’s daughter Elizabeth after the two to study in London.he said:
“He was born to be a coach,” De Zerbi said of the former midfielder. “I was talking to him before he was coaching Spal and I was sure he would be an excellent coach. He has personality and charisma, everything a coach needs. I am happy that he is doing well, changing a team that was already good and getting very good results.”
But that friendship will be put aside on Thursday as Brighton look to continue their fairytale run which has already taken their supporters on a whirlwind tour of some of Europe’s most famous cities.
“We’ll see the stadium tomorrow but we’ve won at Old Trafford and drawn against Marseille this season,” said De Zerbi. “It will be a test but I think this should encourage us and give us an extra boost. I’ve been coaching for the last 10 years and this is the team with the players most like me in the way they fight for everything and never give up.”
