Roberto De Zerbi is now said to be the frontrunner to replace Mauricio Pochettino at {statorium_team tid=8 sid=252 text="Chelsea"} as reported by Mail sport to be the secret inclusion in the four-man shortlist. De Zerbi Is joined alongside Ipswich's Kieran McKenna, Leicester's Enzo Maresca, and lastly Brentford's Thomas frank, with decisions to be made very soon in the search of a new successor.
The 44-year-old Italian was referred to as the "favourite" by a club insider since he is thought to meet Chelsea's requirements, although nothing is official as of yet. Chelsea focused on selecting a dynamic, progressive, and forward-thinking coach who aligns with the club's philosophy when they narrowed their selection. They also really desire the selected candidate to have elite level English football experience.
De Zerbi emerges as favourites to become next Chelsea boss
With a style of possession-based football, De Zerbi led Brighton into Europe for the first time in their history during his two seasons as manager of the Premier League team. Even though De Zerbi was under contract until 2026, he and owner-chairman Tony Bloom decided at the end of the season that their "ideas and visions" were different.
As a result, De Zerbi left Brighton by mutual consent. Brighton made sure to include compensation in their peaceful separation as insurance in case another club made a move this summer, and if Chelsea were to succeed in acquiring De Zerbi, they would still be required to pay the South Coast club.
That compensation is now estimated to be worth roughly £5 million. Xavi is not being looked at by Chelsea even after leaving {statorium_team tid=23 sid=262 text="Barcelona"} and free on the market. Ruben Amorim of Sporting Lisbon is not on the shortlist, Sebastian Hoeness of Stuttgart and Michel of {statorium_team tid=26 sid=262 text="Girona"} are no longer in the race.
The announcement that De Zerbi is one of the four contenders has well been received by Chelsea fans. After Mail Sport's reported, a social media survey garnered strong support for him, with 26,000 votes, or 72.8% of the total. Frank came in last with 5%, McKenna with 8.9%, and Maresca with 13.4%.
On the last day of the season, De Zerbi said goodbye to {statorium_team tid=19 sid=252 text="Brighton"} amid rumours that he was going to go to {statorium_team tid=47 sid=274 text="Bayern Munich"}, who later signed Vincent Kompany from {statorium_team tid=12 sid=252 text="Burnley"}. De Zerbi would be reunited with {statorium_player pid=12721 sid=252 text="Moises Caicedo"}, {statorium_player pid=29706 sid=252 text="Levi Colwill"} from Brighton and {statorium_player pid=15379 sid=252 text="Mykhailo Mudryk"} from his spell at {statorium_season sid=282 text="Shakhtar Donetsk"} if he moved to Chelsea. Paul Winstanley, Chelsea co-sporting director, also had a brief collaboration with De Zerbi at Brighton.