06 March 2024 , 20:54
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Roberto De Zerbi returned home and pledged his love for Brighton as he told Serie A clubs he is not ready to go back for a top Italian job.
The former Sassuolo boss is one of the hottest coaches in Europe after taking Albion to a glamour Europa League last 16 tie with Roma. Liverpool, Manchester United, Barcelona and Bayern Munich could all be looking for new bosses this summer along with Italian giants Milan, Juventus and Napoli.
De Zerbi, 44, last coached a match in Italy in October 2021 when his Shakhtar Donetsk played Inter Milan in the Champions League. Asked if he will return to coach in Italy, De Zerbi admitted: “It’s not true that I don’t think about it.
"Usually I do what makes me happy and right now that’s to be where I am. I am lucky to compete with this team at this level. It makes me happy when I win but even when we lose it is something special.
“One day I will come back to Italy. I don’t know when that day will come. But when I made the choice two or three years ago to go to Shakhtar, I did it because I wanted to find a path outside Italy. Without going into too many details, there were some things in Italy I didn’t like. I decided to do something else.”
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De Zerbi has led Brighton into sixth place last season and into Europe for the first time in their history - and to a sold out Stadio Olimpico.
“I am very proud to be back here with my team,” he said. “I usually fall in love with my teams and my players. It happened in Foggia, Benevento, Sassuolo, even Shakhtar. But this is a team I really love, a team who can lose 3-0, and they always bounce back with pride and hunger.
“I have been coaching for 10 years and this is the team where the players are most similar to me in terms of pride, hunger, dignity,and motivation. The young and senior players have a similar footballing outlook to me. I trust them. We are here not only to reach the last eight but also because we are writing history.”
De Zerbi's Brighton side face a huge task against Roma in the Stadio Olimpico (Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock)Roma head coach Daniele De Rossi, who replaced Jose Mourinho in January, has labelled his Italian friend a “genius: . De Zerbi responded: “I don’t see myself as a genius or better than others but I am not scared to work hard and don’t lack courage.”
Brighton have struggled in the Premier League this year but have won their last four European games without conceding and have yet to lose an away game
Pascal Gross said: “Rome is a beautiful city - I was here last year - and the movie Gladiator is one of my favourite movies but I’m here for different reasons and it’s even nicer.”
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