Barcelona pick De Zerbi to replace Xavi as manager

The club’s sports commission has given its backing to the addition of Brighton’s Italian coach who has shone in the Premier League.

As it stands, there is a name that has received approval from all members of the Sports Commission: his name is Roberto De Zerbi. According to information obtained by AS, the Italian coach of Brighton and Hove Albion, currently sitting ninth in the English Premier League, has the endorsement of Joan Laporta and Deco to be Xavi Hernández’s replacement next season. In fact, the coach’s representatives, Edmundo Kabchi and Edoardo Cnajr, met with the sports director this Wednesday for over three hours in Barcelona.

While it is true that the reason for the meeting, as reported in the media, was to lay the groundwork for the renewal of Ronald Araújo, it is also true that there was extensive discussion about the possibility of De Zerbi landing in Barcelona himself. The main obstacle to completing the operation is the coach’s release clause, set at around ten million euros (c.$10.8m). This is an amount that gives pause to the club, but they have asked for some patience to reach an agreement. Barcelona assured De Zerbi’s agents that if they manage to overcome this obstacle, the Brighton coach will take over the reins of the first team from 1 July 2024.

The sports management team considers De Zerbi the natural heir to the Blaugrana DNA, also blessed by club legend Pep Guardiola.

“Brighton is the team that builds the game best in the world,” Pep said at the beginning of the season. “There is no better team when it comes to progressing with the ball from the goalkeeper to the final third.”

This statement did not gone unnoticed within the Catalan club, which has closely followed the steps of the 44-year-old