Following the Italian’s apparent replacement for Xavi, Brighton manager Paul Barber has advised Barcelona against making a move for manager Roberto De Zerbi.
After Xavi leaves the Catalans at the end of the season, the team is looking for a new coach, but Barber believes his team can retain the Italian.
“We want Roberto to stay as long as possible because he’s doing a great job. It’s not rocket science to work out that the better someone does in a job, the more they’re going to be linked with other jobs and potentially at bigger clubs that are playing in even higher-level competitions than us,” he told BBC Radio Sussex,
“But when we’re operating in the top six or seven of the Premier League, when we’re in the last 16 of the Europa League, when we’re still in the FA Cup – we’re operating at the highest levels of the game, so we’re confident we’ve got an attractive package here to want to work with and stay with us.
“We’ve got to shed off this constant thing of ‘we’re a feeder club for the bigger clubs, whether it is players, coaches or staff’. We’re actually doing OK. We’re still humble, we’re still very cognisant of where we’ve come from and the journey we’re still on, but we’ve also got a lot of good things going here. I’m confident that means a lot of good people want to come here and also stay here.”
There are other teams that are interested in De Zerbi besides Barcelona. The Brighton coach is reportedly a top choice for Bayern Munich to succeed Thomas Tuchel.
