Barcelona will need to pay €10m if they wish to sign Roberto de Zerbi as their new manager in the summer.
That’s according to Sport and Mundo Deportivo, who both cover the Italian coach today as the race to find Xavi’s replacement heats up.
Sport explain that De Zerbi is one of the coaches on the list for Barcelona, although he is not the favourite by any means.
The Catalans have been gathering information and asking about his contract situation at Brighton, though, as that could complicate his arrival at Camp Nou.
De Zerbi has a contract with Brighton until 2026 and the Seagulls want to extend it to 2027 with an exit clause worth around €15m. They would not negotiate with Barcelona over a deal for the Italian should it come to it.
In fact, they’ve already covered themselves with a €10m clause in his current deal, making sure to be protected after losing Graham Potter to Chelsea.
They included a €10m clause in De Zerbi’s contract but also a clause that states he cannot leave in the middle of the season. Barcelona, for now, are not very convinced by the idea of paying a fee and would prefer he arrives for free.
Mundo back this up, stating that De Zerbi is the preferred coach outside of the German route that is also being explored.
His arrival is the most viable at this moment in time although they don’t want to pay that €10m clause for him. There are, though, some inside the club who are defending the idea because they like his attacking system.
They add that, despite the clause, De Zerbi could force a move to the club if they were to push to hire him this summer.
That tallies with a report from earlier this week that explained De Zerbi was trying to gain ground in the race for the job via those closest to him, namely agents Edmundo Kabchi and Edoardo Crnjar, who also represent Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo.
They were at the club discussing a new deal for the defender this week and the likelihood is that the Brighton coach was also on the agenda somewhere.
