Roberto De Zerbi

Roberto De Zerbi (born 6 June 1979) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who is the head coach of club Brighton & Hove Albion.
Playing career
De Zerbi started his professional career at AC Milan. He spent four seasons on loan to lower divisions clubs (Serie B to Serie C2). He spent 1999–2000 Serie C1 season in Como along with Alberto Comazzi and Luca Saudati of Milan. Half of the registration rights also sold to Salernitana in 2000–01 and 2001–02 season. In June 2002 Milan bought back De Zerbi from Salernitana and sold De Zerbi to U.S. Foggia.
De Zerbi signed for Serie B side Napoli from Catania for €2.5 million in 2006.
On 8 February 2010, Napoli announced his loan transfer to Romanian Liga I club CFR Cluj, with the deal being made permanent on 31 August 2010 on a three-year contract.
Coaching career
Palermo
On 6 September 2016, De Zerbi was named head coach of Serie A club Palermo following Davide Ballardini's departure by mutual consent due to disagreements with the board. His stint at the helm of the Sicilians however turned out to be negative, with seven consecutive defeats and no points at home in three months. After a penalty shootout elimination in a home match against Serie B club Spezia, De Zerbi was sacked on 30 November 2016 and replaced with former team captain Eugenio Corini.
Benevento
On 23 October 2017, De Zerbi was named head coach of 2017–18 Serie A newcomers Benevento. Despite the side being relegated back to Serie B at the end of the season, De Zerbi was praised for his possession-based, attacking football and transfer business.
Sassuolo
On 13 June 2018, De Zerbi was appointed manager of Sassuolo. Under his tenure, Sassuolo were praised for their footballing style coupled with overachieving results, which led the small Emilia based club to two consecutive eighth place spots in the Italian top flight, losing a UEFA Conference League qualification place to Roma only on goal difference at the end of the 2020–21 Serie A season.
In May 2021 De Zerbi announced he would leave Sassuolo at the end of the season.
Shakhtar Donetsk
On 25 May 2021, De Zerbi was announced as the new head coach of Ukrainian Premier League club Shakhtar Donetsk. On 22 September he won the 2021 Ukrainian Super Cup against Dynamo Kyiv at the Olympic Stadium in Kyiv, becoming the first Italian manager to win the title. He departed the club in July 2022 as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He managed to leave the club at the top of the UPL during the unfinished season.
Brighton & Hove Albion
2022–23 season
De Zerbi succeeded Graham Potter as head coach of Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion on 18 September 2022, signing a four-year contract. He managed his first game in England on 1 October, in a 3–3 away draw at Liverpool with Leandro Trossard becoming the first Brighton player to score a Premier League hat-trick.
De Zerbi lost his first game at Brighton's Falmer Stadium on 9 October, calling his players "fantastic" despite the 1–0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. His first win came on 29 October with a 4–1 thrashing of Graham Potter's Chelsea. De Zerbi went three games unbeaten against Liverpool in his debut campaign at Brighton, including beating them as defending champions in the FA Cup fourth round on 29 January 2023.
On 18 February, he was sent off by referee Darren England following Brighton's 1–0 home defeat against Fulham. De Zerbi was shown a red card for complaining that he had lost time to prepare for the match due to a refereeing meeting during the week. In a post-match interview he said the "level of refereeing in the Premier League is very bad," whilst also criticising Darren England for not having a "good attitude." On March 3, he was banned from the touchline for one game and fined £15,000 by the FA in the wake of his red card in the Fulham game.
De Zerbi guided Brighton to the semi-final of the FA Cup, where they faced Manchester United at Wembley on 23 April. Brighton went on to lose on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes. The Italian responded to the defeat by saying that Brighton "have to close the page" by putting disappointment behind them and fighting for a place in Europe. Three days later, Brighton went on to lose 3–1 at Nottingham Forest before their biggest Premier League victory at the weekend on 29 April, a 6–0 home win over Wolves to boost Albion's European hopes. Brighton took revenge on Manchester United on 4 May, with Alexis Mac Allister scoring the only goal of the match, a 99th minute penalty that put Brighton on course for Europe. However, four days later, the Albion suffered one of their worst Premier League defeats and the worst under De Zerbi, losing to Everton 5–1 at Falmer Stadium. The Toffees opened the scoreline in 34 seconds.
On 21 May, Brighton beat Southampton 3–1 at home, securing a top seven finish, meaning that Brighton had qualified for Europe for the first time in the club's history. De Zerbi called the qualification "more prestigious than winning the title" with a top six club. The Italian spoke with pride of coaching the Albion calling it "an honour." Three days later, Brighton sealed their place in the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League after a 1–1 draw at home against champions Manchester City.
Managerial statistics
Honours
Player
CFR Cluj
Liga I: 2009–10, 2011–12
Romanian Cup: 2009–10
Manager
Foggia
Coppa Italia Lega Pro: 2015–16
Shakhtar Donetsk
Ukrainian Super Cup: 2021
References
External links
1979 births
Living people
Footballers from Brescia
Italian men's footballers
Italian football managers
Calcio Foggia 1920 managers
Palermo FC managers
Benevento Calcio managers
US Sassuolo Calcio managers
FC Shakhtar Donetsk managers
Men's association football midfielders
Men's association football forwards
Italian expatriate men's footballers
Catania FC players
AC Milan players
Calcio Padova players
AC Monza players
SSC Napoli players
US Avellino 1912 players
Como 1907 players
Calcio Lecco 1912 players
Calcio Foggia 1920 players
SS Arezzo players
CFR Cluj players
Liga I players
Expatriate men's footballers in Romania
Serie A players
Serie B players
Serie C players
Serie D players
Serie A managers
Ukrainian Premier League managers
Italian expatriate football managers
Expatriate football managers in Romania
Expatriate football managers in Ukraine
Expatriate football managers in England
Italian expatriate sportspeople in Romania
Italian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine
Italian expatriate sportspeople in England