Following his departure from Brighton at the end of the season, the question on everybody’s mind’s has been where will Roberto De Zerbi go next.

Where to next for Roberto de Zerbi? 👀 pic.twitter.com/IPI8fgVxBY

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) May 18, 2024

Links to clubs all across the world from Barcelona to Bayern Munich to Juventus and many more have raised the interests of fans everywhere but talks seemed to break down almost instantly. And there may be a key reason for that.

Matteo Moretto, who Football Park rate as a tier two source for reliability, has revealed that there is a “special clause” in De Zerbi’s contract meaning his next club must pay Brighton 5-6 million euros for his services.

La cláusula especial que tiene De Zerbi.

El Atlético debe hacerse con dos centrales.

El futuro de Sergio Gómez y el interés que hay en Juan Miranda.

Aquí la newsletter de mercado de @relevo. https://t.co/5vPWVhnSEZ

— Matteo Moretto (@MatteMoretto) June 9, 2024

The clause is said to remain until approximately mid-August meaning clubs may feel as though they should wait to appoint the Italian.

As we are well aware, De Zerbi is a fan of completing projects at clubs. He took Brighton from mid-table to the Europa League for example, so the news of this clause could suggest De Zerbi will be waiting patiently for his next career step.

Although it doesn’t solve the question of where he will go next, football fans everywhere surely know now that it may be a while until we see De Zerbi back on the touchline.