Liverpool, Man Utd learn Premier League rivals are ‘ready’ for ‘top’ target to replace Klopp, Ten Ha
De Zerbi arrived in the Premier League during the 2022/23 campaign as he replaced Graham Potter at Brighton.
A drop-off was expected following Potter’s move to Chelsea but De Zerbi has surpassed expectations as he has taken the Seagulls to another level.
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The 44-year-old masterminded Brighton’s superb end to last season as they reached the FA Cup semi-finals and finished sixth in the Premier League to qualify for the Europa League.
Ninth-placed Brighton have not been as strong in the Premier League this season but they have reached the last-16 stage of the Europa League.
De Zerbi is already being linked with several elite European clubs. He is on Barcelona’s radar as they consider replacements for Xavi but Premier League clubs are also keen.
A report from The Daily Mail claims Brighton are ‘ready’ for De Zerbi’s potential exit in the summer with Liverpool and Man Utd ‘among his top admirers’. They explain.
‘Brighton are braced for the possible departure of boss Roberto De Zerbi at the end of the season with the Italian courted by clubs across Europe.
‘Mail Sport understands contingency plans are being drawn up in the event De Zerbi should leave. It is believed the 44-year-old is prominent in Liverpool’s thinking as they seek a successor to Jurgen Klopp, who will depart at the end of the campaign.
‘Former Reds midfielder Xabi Alonso, who has guided Bayer Leverkusen to the top of the Bundesliga in Germany, is another strong candidate.
‘De Zerbi is also thought to have admirers among the INEOS group who now control the football operation at Manchester United, where Dan Ashworth is expected to accept a key role when his exit from Newcastle can be agreed.’
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Speaking after Klopp announced his Liverpool exit, De Zerbi insisted that he is “focused” on matters at Brighton.
“My focus is just on the last part of the season,” De Zerbi told reporters. “We are going to compete and to play a historic part of the season. We compete in the Premier League to reach the same target as last season (qualifying for Europe).
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“We’re going to play the last 16 in the Europa League. We compete in the FA Cup and we remember the defeat last season in Wembley and for it I keep my eye on my team.”
When asked for his reaction to Klopp leaving, he added: “I’m very sad because, if he changes league, changes country, the Premier League loses one of the best coaches in the world,” said De Zerbi. “I consider Klopp, (Pep) Guardiola, (Carlo) Ancelotti, (Marcelo) Bielsa the best coaches in the world and I’m sad for it.
“I can understand it very well. I think our work is the best work you can do but it is very tough. You need energy. You have to push every day. If you don’t work with the right energy, you lose everything.”
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Man Utd: Ashworth eyes Brighton raid in first deal as Red Devils sporting director
Multiple reports yesterday confirmed that Newcastle’s Ashworth is Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s number one target for the sporting director position at Old Trafford.
It has been claimed that Ashworth wants to move to Man Utd with the Red Devils now locked in negotiations to seal the appointment before the important summer transfer window.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano wrote in his Caught Offside column today: “Dan Ashworth has already said yes to Manchester United. He’s prepared to accept their proposal as it’s considered a big opportunity and project.
“Man United are intentioned to negotiate and pay compensation to Newcastle; they absolutely want Ashworth now, not in 2025.”
And now ESPN claim that Ashworth ‘will be given the responsibility of rebuilding Manchester United’s scouting department’ when he is appointed as their new sporting director.
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‘Brighton’s head of recruitment, Sam Jewell, identified as the leading candidate to head up the new structure’ and talks could see Ashworth ‘granted permission to move to Old Trafford in the coming days, subject to a period of gardening leave being served before beginning a new role in Manchester’.
The report adds:
‘Sources have told ESPN that United have yet to make a formal move for Jewell, but he is highly rated by Ashworth and his success at Brighton has been noted by the INEOS team at the club.’
It is understood that Jewell played a crucial role in identifying the likes of Alexis Mac Allister, Moises Caicedo and Julio Enciso with Brighton nailing their recruitment in recent years.
Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag is set to have less say on transfers when Ratcliffe officially completes his purchase of 25 per cent of the club and the Dutchman insists it will be important that the new sporting director’s philosophy aligns with his.
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On the potential appointment of Ashworth, Ten Hag told a pre-match press conference: “I think it is very important you are on one page about football philosophy, about football tactics, about the profiles of the players you need in the team so it is very important to have very good communication so you get the right players.
“It is one of the most important factors to develop a good team, that you have the right players but also the right characters.
“That means you have to do the right work and be aligned and it’s a long process to get the right players in.
“I have worked in several situations where sometimes I was alone in charge, sometimes I had co-operation.
“I think it is so specific, especially on the top, and also so intense. With the number of games you need people around who are on the same page, working on the same targets to achieve the high ambitions.
“I am here and I know in what construction I am working and I am very happy in that construction. I don’t know anything about changes.
“I talk with the new sporting organisation but it is not up to me. My focus point at this moment is on this team.”
Mourinho claims ex-Man Utd chief was ‘fish out of water’; Ratcliffe warned against appointment
Mourinho spent two and a half years as Man Utd boss before leaving towards the end of 2016. During this spell, he helped them win the Europa League, Carabao Cup and Community Shield.
The former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur manager worked with Woodward at Old Trafford.
Woodward was consistently criticised during his time at Man Utd and one of his worst deals came about in 2016 as he negotiated the £89m signing of Paul Pogba from Serie A giants Juventus.
His time at United came to an end at the beginning of 2022 as he was replaced by Richard Arnold. His successor did not last too long as Sir Jim Ratcliffe has brought in Omar Berrada to become their new chief executive.
Mourinho has now suggested that Woodward was a “fish out of water” and he’s revealed what he found “difficult” at Man Utd.
“I don’t think the media helped me,” Mourinho told Rio Ferdinand via the Vibe with Five podcast. “I don’t think it was meant with an intention of hurting; I think it was more that people didn’t understand the dimension of the job and the potential difficulties.
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“Also, the fact the coach was in a hybrid position because in the years before everything was very, very clear; of course ownership, but also Sir Alex [Ferguson] and David Gill. That was changing and the structure was not a very fluid structure.
“When people criticise Ed Woodward’s job, I don’t like it because, for me, he is a good man. He was just a man that was probably not like a fish in the water. He was very intelligent, very polite, very correct, but probably not prepared for the sports side.
“It was difficult for a coach not to have a direct communication with the ownership. It was also difficult for a coach not to have a structure that shares the same principles and the same ideas, which was not easy with consequences at many levels.”
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Mourinho has been linked with a return to Man Utd of late but former striker Louis Saha does not believe it would be “great timing” for him to succeed Erik ten Hag at this point.
“I respect José Mourinho’s pedigree and history in management, but it’s really difficult to predict what’s going to happen in football,” Saha told Betfred.
“We should all focus on Erik ten Hag’s mission at Manchester United because it would be disrespectful for me to speculate about a big name like Mourinho coming back to Old Trafford.
“Everybody could say that Mourinho could come back to Manchester United and be successful because nobody should doubt the guy as he’s still a terrific manager.
“I believe Erik ten Hag is doing a brilliant job at the moment and it’s not great timing to discuss other managers taking over at Manchester United. As a fan, I don’t believe speculation will contribute anything positive to the team.”
Mourinho snubs Arsenal as he predicts the Premier League and Champions League winners
Arsenal struggled a bit in December, losing three of their seven Premier League matches that month, handing over top spot to Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
However, the Gunners have recovered since with four Premier League wins in a row, in which they’ve scored 16 goals, and are now two points behind leaders Liverpool.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are in second place, level on points with Arsenal but with a game in hand on Mikel Arteta’s men and Liverpool.
And Mourinho doesn’t even mention Arsenal when picking out his contenders for the Premier League or Champions League, with the Gunners also through to the last 16 of that competition.
“Champions League, I would say City or Real Madrid,” Mourinho said on Rio Ferdinand’s Vibe with FIVE YouTube channel.
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“If somebody outside [those two] wins it, for me, it would be a great surprise.
“I would love Real Madrid to win it again for the club and for Carlo [Ancelotti]. I don’t know, Bayern Munich can do it, Paris Saint-Germain.
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“Looking at potential, I think City/Liverpool for the Premier [League], City/Real for the Champions [League].”
Mourinho admitted his exit from Roma earlier this season was the managerial departure that “hurt” him the most as he gave a wide-ranging interview.
The former Man Utd and Tottenham boss added: “I gave everything, I gave my heart, I gave even some options that could be considered not very clever from the professional point of view,’ he said.
“I refused some great working opportunities. The first one was very hard to refuse because it was Portugal national team, probably the best Portugal national team ever and three years before a World Cup.
“Then I had a big one from Saudi and I didn’t hide it at the time because it was really big.
“I did it – normally I am very pragmatic in my choices, very professional in my choices and I try to be very emotionally controlled and you could see that when I left other clubs after winning finals.
“In this case I was not pragmatic, I was emotional and I gave everything. So in the end when I left, I left hurt. I had the great feeling that I gave so much happiness to the people.
“Two European finals in a row doesn’t happen too often, especially in a club like Roma which doesn’t have a big history of European success.
“Then I was walking in the street and the people were like “take us to Dublin, take us to Dublin” [for this year’s Europa League final] and so I had that in my mind, the third European final in a row.
“I refused some great working opportunities. The first one was very hard to refuse because it was Portugal national team, probably the best Portugal national team ever and three years before a World Cup.
“Then I had a big one from Saudi and I didn’t hide it at the time because it was really big.
“I did it – normally I am very pragmatic in my choices, very professional in my choices and I try to be very emotionally controlled and you could see that when I left other clubs after winning finals.
“In this case I was not pragmatic, I was emotional and I gave everything. So in the end when I left, I left hurt. I had the great feeling that I gave so much happiness to the people.
“Two European finals in a row doesn’t happen too often, especially in a club like Roma which doesn’t have a big history of European success.
“Then I was walking in the street and the people were like ‘take us to Dublin, take us to Dublin’ [for this year’s Europa League final] and so I had that in my mind, the third European final in a row.”
