Roberto De Zerbi has been one of the most talked about coaches in recent months; first approached by Inter Milan, then Juve and finally Napoli, he will most likely remain at Brighton in England.
The confirmation comes from Carlo Nicolini, manager of Shakhtar Donetsk and therefore former collaborator of De Zerbi. Speaking to the microphones of calciomercato.it, broadcast on the Twitch TVPLAY channel, the executive basically announced that, in his opinion, De Zerbi will continue to coach in England, leading Brighton to new success.
“I really think De Zerbi will stay at Brighton,” the interviewee began, “he’s on a very important path, he has an important team, and the players follow him in his ideas; so. So, barring any particular proposals, I think he will stay there.”
“When we met, we didn’t talk about this,” Nicolini revealed. “We talked about football in general, English and Italian football in relation to the Ukrainian reality. From what I can guess, it won’t go away, but really we didn’t talk about it, it’s not rhetoric. “
“There is a bit of fear to try something new in Italy,” the interviewee continued. ‘Let’s get De Zerbi, precisely. Why didn’t any top Italian club bet on him? England, on the other hand, rewards brave coaches like De Zerbi. Years ago I contacted him, proposed our programme, and we concluded. He knew Shakthar because they had a similar playing philosophy. He asked us if we would follow him in the market, that’s all. And we supported him.
De Zerbi still in England: “In Italy they are afraid… “
The interviewee then spoke about the Shakhtar players that top clubs, Italian and otherwise, like. From his point of view, it is perfectly normal for big teams to follow Shakhtar players. “In June we didn’t have a team, in July we started the Champions League and beat Leipzig and then drew with Real Madrid. Bondarenko has an excellent technique, he follows spaces, he can follow the action, he has shooting ability and a physicality that allows him to do well on set pieces. He is a very important player from my point of view. “
Bondarenko
Bondarenko is interested in Roma. “To get him you need money, then I don’t make the price. I don’t talk about figures, but there are players out there valued at 60 or 70 million who can’t make two passes in a row, then there are guys who have been in the Champions League for three years, who go to the Bernabeu and play a great game and we only value them at 15.
Regarding De Zerbi’s farewell to Ukraine because of the war, the manager said: ‘I’m not surprised by De Zerbi’s words, even for me the wound is still open. We had found an outstanding group of Ukrainians, a very important and futuristic coach. We were also buying well, we already had the Brazilians, we had added two or three elements. Without the war we thought Shakhtar could aim for great results, and I think De Zerbi is very sorry too’.
As a brave coach in Italy, apart from De Zerbi, Nicolini only recognises Zeman. “Zeman did a lot, he could have done more, he didn’t win, then you have to go and see why he didn’t win. At Lazio he showed fantastic football, as he did at Roma, then those who say he was kicked out several times, that he’s been failing lately, that he was beaten by Delio Rossi’s Foggia, these things are also true. “