Bayern, Barca, Man Utd - Where next for outgoing Brighton boss De Zerbi?

Brighton and Hove Albion and head coach Roberto De Zerbi have mutually agreed to part ways at the end of the season, with the Seagulls facing Manchester United in their final Premier League fixture on Sunday.

The Italian has won 38 of his 88 matches in charge at the Amex having been appointed as a successor to Graham Potter in September 2022.

De Zerbi earned a reputation for producing football that was easy on the eye throughout his time at the south coast, qualifying Brighton to European football for the first time in the club’s history last season.

This season they reached the Europa League knockout stages, where they were eliminated by Roma, but suffered through a lean period due to injuries to key players.

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The announcement around his departure comes as a huge surprise as only a matter of days ago the 44-year-old declared his love for the club and his wishes to remain in place.

It’s especially surprising since the ex-playmaker was under contract until 2026 with Brighton reported to hold a sizable release clause.

Nonetheless, this shock development means De Zerbi is now free to discuss terms with any team he likes, and it’s not like he will be short of suitors.

Here we look at the next possible destinations for Roberto De Zerbi.

Bayern Munich

De Zerbi is not the only high-profile manager to drop this kind of bombshell in recent days with Thomas Tuchel confirming on Friday that contract talks with Bayern Munich had BROKEN DOWN and he would, after all, be leaving the Allianz Arena at the end of the season.

The week had begun with news that the Bavarians were considering an about-face and remaining with Tuchel in charge for another season at least.

At that stage there was a dearth of quality replacements, with Julian Nagelsmann opting to stay with Germany and Xabi Alonso doing similar with Bayer Leverkusen.

Talks with Ralf Rangnick went nowhere, meanwhile, meaning Bayern were all of a sudden looking desperate in their search for a new manager head of a key summer.

Saturday’s events will be warmly welcomed at Sabener Strasse where club bosses had previously put the name of De Zerbi under consideration.

Expect movement pretty quickly on this one if it is to happen.

AC Milan

De Zerbi is a graduate of the AC Milan youth academy, although the midfielder prompter never managed to make a first-team appearance for the Rossoneri.

In that regard it would be an emotional homecoming for the coach, whose playing and coaching careers have taken him to Romania, Ukraine and England since departing San Siro.

Only this week the Corriere della Sera was discussing the possibility of attempting to make De Zerbi the successor to Stefano Pioli, widely expected to leave the club this summer.

They dreamed about De Zerbi due to his Milan connections but also because of the clear, identifiable style of play he gave his teams, something the higher-ups at the club were keen on.

However, the stumbling block would be the manager’s release clause, which Milan were not willing to pay straight out.

That hurdle looks to be overcome with very little resistance, meaning a potential pathway homeward has potentially opened up.

Barcelona

Barcelona’s search for a new manager is apparently back on. Having earlier announced that he would be stepping down at the end of the season, current incumbent Xavi went back on his word and decided to stay put at Camp Nou after all.

However, that future plan was upended in recent days with the news that club president Joan Laporta would be seeking to make a managerial change regardless.

Xavi’s future is now extremely precarious and Barca are supposedly in the market for a new boss. Previously Hansi Flick and Thomas Tuchel were linked with the role and even further back in the process the name of De Zerbi came up.

Back in March it reckoned that the hard-up Catalans could’t afford the release clause but they, like Milan, would now count themselves back in the game.

The former Sassuolo boss is admired at Camp Nou for similar reasons to Milan - his style of football chief among them - and was reportedly recommended to the club by none other than Pep Guardiola.

Manchester United

Manchester United will be De Zerbi’s final Brighton opponents and the Red Devils will consider events at the Falmer Stadium with some degree of interest.

While no decision has yet been made over the future of Erik ten Hag, there is an end-of-days feeling about the Dutchman’s reign, with United linked with a plethora of managerial candidates ahead of the summer.

De Zerbi’s Brighton predecessor Graham Potter has been named as a potential appointment but now the former Shakhtar Donetsk boss’s name presumably moves into the frame too.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe will soon begin to make his mark on first-team proceedings having taken an axe to the Manchester United front offices and he could do worse than open talks with De Zerbi.

Napoli

Another intriguing possibility which could open up is Napoli.

De Zerbi is a former Napoli playmaker, starring mostly in Serie B for the southern Italian club during the latter half of the noughties.

And his assistant manager revealed a few months ago that he would be interested in making the move to the Diego Maradona Stadium at some stage of his career.

“It is his country, and Napoli is among his favourite teams,” Andrea Maldera told Radio Kiss Kiss. “We’re fine at Brighton. We have another two years on our contract, then if a proposal came from Italy, and also from Naples, Roberto would take it into consideration.

“I don’t know, but why say no to a place like Naples?”

Napoli have attracted some big-name managers to the club in the recent past, including Rafael Benitez, Carlo Ancelotti, Maurizio Sarri and current Italian national team boss Luciano Spalletti.

This season has been a rough one for the outgoing Serie A title holders, languishing in mid table and cycling through three different coaches.

They haven’t been able to settle on a successor to Spalletti, and WILL make another change this summer.

Current incumbent Francesco Calzona will go back to the Slovakia team job on a permanent basis at the end of the season, signing off his forgettable three-month spell with a word of warning for anyone who follows.

“I didn’t expect all these problems, of course, I did not expect a catastrophe that’s not only on the pitch but in general,” he told a recent press conference.