Earlier today, we covered claims from Italy saying that with Roberto De Zerbi taking charge of Brighton & Hove Albion, Napoli missed out on signing him in the future.
It was said that club president Aurelio De Laurentiis is a ‘great admirer’ of the coach, and had him in his sights to possibly replace Luciano Spaletti at the end of the season.
It turns out that, as the Italian media continues to speak abut De Zerbi’s move to Brighton, we now get to see more regrets about another Serie A side not landing him.
Shakhtar Donetsk director of football Carlo Nicolini was today interviewed by 1 Football Club, and in the conversation, he revealed that the manager had been offered to Juventus, who also missed out on the chance to sign the 43-year-old.
Nicolini also spoke of Ze Derbi’s departure from Shakhtar Donetsk, which happened this summer following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He praised the manager and also complimented Brighton for signing him.
“Roberto behaved like a man and a professional, because we left Ukraine after sending all the Brazilians away. We found a common agreement to allow the manager to make other decisions. It was a pain for us, because we believed in his football idea. In a couple of years Shakhtar could have done so much in Europe. In the end we were happy that De Zerbi has married to Brighton. Italy has let a coach with great potential slip away for the second time in a row.”
As De Zerbi continues to be highly rated in Italy, that’s certainly a good reason for Brighton to be excited with the choice they’ve made to replace Graham Potter.
