Roberto de Zerbi is not thinking about leaving Brighton and Hove Albion at the end of this season as “he’s having a lot of fun” with the Seagulls.
That’s according to Antonio Cassano, who says he’s spoken to the Italian manager about his future plans amid apparent interest from Italy.
De Zerbi took charge of Brighton in September as Graham Potter’s replacement when he left for Chelsea and has not looked back since.
He has very much built on the work of his predecessor, developing an exciting, attacking brand of football that has led Brighton up the table and into European contention.
They have very much been one of the best sides in the Premier League this season and that has inevitably led to suggestions he could leave Brighton in the summer, with claims in Italy that the likes of Inter Milan and Juventus could be interested in hiring him.
It seems the Brighton manager is not ‘thinking about other teams’, though, and instead intends to see how far he can take his current club.
“He sent me a message and the content is very long,” he said.
“I annoyed him a bit. He wrote me that he always follows us and after the championship he’s available to come to Bobo TV’.
“I heard him very happy and replied that with all my heart I support Brighton and I hope he stays there.
“We always talk about MacAllister, Caicedo and Mitoma but he pointed me to other players who are really strong – Dunk, March, Gross and the young lad Ferguson.
“He repeated to me that he enjoys it so much and that at the moment he finds it hard to think of other teams as Brighton is something unique.
“I replied that I hope to see him return to Italy and coach the strongest teams because he is the strongest after Guardiola. Football in England is another dimension. Some runaways would leave at the first opportunity. He would like to stay at Brighton.”
