Roberto De Zerbi is in the peak of his managerial career so far, and the interest in the 44-year-old Italian is sky-high with Chelsea, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Barcelona all reportedly interested in his services as manager. With Xabi Alonso publicly committing to his role at Bundesliga table toppers Bayer Leverkusen, De Zerbi has certainly risen in the elite manager’s pecking order.

We spoke with an anonymous football insider on this hot topic, a figure with access to exclusive inside information amongst the game’s biggest clubs, and a former major football decision maker.

The insider began by questioning De Zerbi’s successes, and some opinions of his achievements at Brighton so far: “Qualifying for Europe with Brighton is apparently a better achievement than winning a title, this is some good b*llshit”, he said.

“Sam Allardyce got a potless Bolton to Europe, even Ipswich went to the UEFA Cup.”

The insider was clear on his level of praise for Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, their model, plans and recruitment and negotiation structures, therefore explaining to us where De Zerbi fit into this, “De Zerbi has for sure evolved with Brighton, they are one of the best, if not the best run club globally.

“The recruitment model is exemplary and quietly hitting eye opening milestones, De Zerbi has to understand his successes are also in correlation to the environment and organisation around him, former players and managers have been down this road.”

Last week, Roberto De Zerbi publicly outed his employers, claiming that his ambitions must be matched by the board if he is to continue in his role. These strong claims rocked the media and strangely enough, just days after in his next conference, the Italian took a massive U-turn, stressing his love and attachment to the club, and that he has no intention of jumping ship.

🗣️ 'If I'm not motivated, I won't stay'

Brighton head coach Robert de Zerbi says he wants to speak to the club after admitting he is undecided as to where his future lies ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/idLbsIhN8E

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) March 30, 2024

Our insider told us that De Zerbi is working with the best negotiators in the game at Brighton, and it is no coincidence that he changed his tune so sharply in public, “Tony Bloom is the best negotiator in the game, he will now push to receive a maximum for De Zerbi.

“There will not be a negotiation to align recruitment and expectations - why would Brighton compromise the best recruitment model for a manager?

“The work of Brighton of the past 15 years has been immeasurable, Brighton always evolves and progresses despite the exits - will Brighton become a champions league club? To survive the departures of Ashworth, Potter, White, Winstanley, Cucurella, Caicedo, MacAllister and so on, no one expected progress…

“We can not write Brighton off.”

The insider gave us his final opinion on the future of De Zerbi, and where his future lies, “De Zerbi will not be at Brighton 24/25.

“He has set sail and will be considered a trophy hunting manager next season, my money is on Liverpool as there are strong connections in the background.

“One thing that has to be said is De Zerbi has shown any future owner what he can potentially do publicly - lay down in front of the cameras, it is a warning.”