De Zerbi on the Barcelona bench? Catalan giant lures Brighton coach, but there’s one major catch

Xavi Hernández admitted a few weeks ago that he will leave Barcelona at the end of this season. The Catalan giant has to look for a replacement. But according to the latest reports, he is already in contact with one. Roberto De Zerbi could come from Brighton.

Like Jürgen Klopp, Xavi also admitted a few weeks ago that he will leave his team at the end of the current competition season. The reasons for this are quite obvious. The team is not doing well, the Spanish coach is not getting the results he very likely expected himself to get.

As we have reported in the past weeks, Xavi’s decision is all the more shocking considering the fact that he made this decision at the beginning of the season.

“I made the decision to resign at the beginning of the season,” Xavi said in a press conference just before the match against Osasuna. His words also quoted by Mundo Deportivo.

Xavi also admitted in a previous interview that another reason for his resignation is that the club is allegedly not evaluating his work sufficiently.

In any case, whatever the two sides have said, the facts are abundantly clear. Xavi will leave, a new coach must come in. Considering such a prestigious address as Barcelona undoubtedly is, several names have been speculated. Rafael Márquez or Mikel Arteta, for example, and current Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso was reportedly under consideration.

However, as reported by Spain’s Diario AS, Barcelona are reportedly luring the current Brighton coach. Yes, the most serious candidate is Roberto De Zerbi.

Under what conditions could De Zerbi join Barcelona?

According to the Spanish daily, the Catalan giant has narrowed down its options to two specific names – De Zerbi and Hansi Flick. However, the latter has been linked with speculation about a return to Bayern to replace Thomas Tuchel.

A meeting of more than three hours was held in Barcelona regarding the engagement of De Zerbi, with all members of the sports committee agreeing on the name. And that includes club president Joan Laporta or sporting director Deco.

So these are just the conditions. De Zerbi is under contract at Brighton until 2026, only an exit clause will take him out. The English club has set it at 10 million euros. The main question is whether Barcelona will be able to engage the 44-year-old coach at all due to financial difficulties.

Source: Diario AS, X