A day before the end of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign, Brighton dropped a shocking club statement that they have decided to part ways with their manager Roberto De Zerbi.
The decision came as a shock to both fans and pundits who had thought the Italian would continue on the dugout at Elland Road with just one year and a half into his Brighton contract.
The nature of Roberto De De Zerbi’s departure evidently showed all was not going well between him and the club’s hierarchy.
However, what actually went wrong was yet to be deciphered, leaving room for speculations. Some reports linked the surprise exit to interests milling around De Zerbi from top clubs in Europe.
Others said the 44-year-old wanted to leave, hence the decision to reach a mutual agreement with the club to terminate his contract.
Amidst speculations, the actual reason Brighton and Roberto De Zerbi decided to end their collaboration has been revealed.
According to a report shared by The Mail, Roberto De Zerbi had wanted to hold end-of-the-season talks with Brighton Chairman Tony Bloom amidst reports linking him to Brighton’s exit.
The report adds the talks were convened as the Italian envisaged but it did not end well; the two sides could not agree on one particular item as they prepare for the next campaign.
The controversial item is said to be how they wanted to conduct the club’s activities in the transfer market. While Roberto De Zerbi wanted to try new initiatives away from Brighton’s standard procedure on transfers, the club’s chairman Tony Bloom wanted the Italian to stick to the club’s established procedures, The Mail said.
When it was evident the pair could not reconcile their differences, they decided to end their collaboration.
How does Brighton conduct activities in the transfer market?
According to The Athletic, Brighton have two methods for signing players. They either sign players from 23 years and under to develop and later sell them or sign players 30 and above with a winning experience to add quality to the team.
De Zerbi reportedly did not want to limit himself to the set age groups but wanted to sign those between the set age range to help him easily access his preferred options for certain roles in the squad.
De Zerbi’s desired approach clashed with Bloom’s and the football chief was not ready to budge an inch.
The meeting had to be reconvened thrice but the pair could not fetch a purple patch, hence they had to part ways.
De Zerbi currently has no offer, as per Fabrizio Romano, but was previously linked to Bayern Munich. However, it is understood the former Shakhtar Donetsk boss may not tarry long away from the dugout as he could land an offer before the resumption of the next campaign.
Meanwhile, Brighton have been linked to a move for Burnley manager Vincent Kompany but could face a race with Bayern Munich, who are reportedly interested in the Belgian as well
