Roberto De Zerbi’s exit from Marseille adds yet another intriguing subplot to a managerial market bubbling over the side of the saucepan with stellar names and fascinating narratives.
The list of high-profile coaches who are available right now, or are due to be looking for work in the summer, feels much weightier than usual. This year’s manager market is probably more interesting than the next transfer window for players.
There are title-winning bosses who have left sizeable clubs, such as Xabi Alonso, Enzo Maresca and Ruben Amorim.
In international football, England head coach Thomas Tuchel could be on the market in July after the World Cup, given that’s when his 18-month contract ends. Ditto Mauricio Pochettino, who you would imagine is unlikely to stay with the United States, whatever happens in what is largely a home tournament. World Cup winner Didier Deschamps, who managed Juventus, Monaco and Marseille before moving into international management in 2012, has stated he will not extend his France contract beyond the summer.
In the Premier League, Oliver Glasner has confirmed he will leave Crystal Palace, while the contracts of Marco Silva (Fulham) and Andoni Iraola (Bournemouth) expire at the end of this season. There will inevitably be other departures, too, perhaps a couple of high-profile ones with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City future looming ominously in the background. Arne Slot may be vulnerable if Liverpool’s poor form continues.
Four big names have been lurking without a management job since 2024: Xavi remains available following his departure from Barcelona, as does Jurgen Klopp, who is in semi-retirement for now with the Red Bull organisation.
Gareth Southgate took England to back-to-back European Championship finals in 2021 and 2024 and is still busy exploring other career opportunities, while Edin Terzic guided Borussia Dortmund to the Champions League final in the latter year but then left the club and hasn’t managed since.
There’s even the guy who won last season’s Europa League… what was his name again, mate?
It’s a crowded market and, in terms of the wish list for the biggest clubs in Europe who may be looking for a new manager, due to career histories, probable availability and readiness, you would put Alonso, Tuchel and maybe Pochettino towards the top end of the market.
Does De Zerbi fit into that bracket? And if not, where does he land next?
Well, the answer to the first question is easy and brief: no. With zero trophies to the 46-year-old’s name, other than the 2021 Ukrainian Super Cup with Shakhtar Donetsk, De Zerbi would be of interest to clubs for his exceptional tactical acumen, much more than his actual results, albeit Marseille were by far the biggest team he has managed in his 13-year career, meaning trophies have never really been part of his remit.
Still, this is a man linked with Barcelona, Manchester United and Bayern Munich when he was flying high with Brighton & Hove Albion not so long ago.
Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton reign was far from dull (Nick Potts/PA Images via Getty Images)
It was around this time that Guardiola gushed with effusive praise on De Zerbi’s influence not just on Brighton, but the whole Premier League.
“Roberto De Zerbi is one of the most influential managers in the last 20 years,” Guardiola said. “There is no team that plays the way they (his Brighton side) play; it’s unique. I had the feeling when he arrived, I had an idea the impact he would have on the Premier League would be great, but I couldn’t expect him to do it in such a short time.”
To be now sacked by Marseille, 12 points off the Ligue 1 lead and having suffered a feeble Champions League first-phase exit by losing 3-0 to Club Brugge last month, represents a climbdown for the Italian, whose reputation has taken a sizeable knock.
Why? Because a pattern has formed, which in the simplest terms can be summarised as: initial tactical uplift puts his team on the rise, then disagreements and infighting sour things the next season.
Tottenham Hotspur want a new head coach having parted ways on Wednesday with summer appointment Thomas Frank, and they have been linked with De Zerbi in the past. In 2023, it was queried on these pages why on earth they wouldn’t go for him.
“If Tottenham want a manager who can produce attractive football, win lots of matches, make a favourable impression on Harry Kane and bring together a near-mutinous fanbase, why are they missing what seems so blindingly obvious?” Daniel Taylor wrote. “Or to rephrase the question: what more evidence did they need during this tortuous, sometimes torturous, search for a new manager to understand that Roberto De Zerbi is the real deal?”
While De Zerbi’s tactical know-how borders on footballing genius, leading to that initial upsurge at Brighton where they finished sixth and qualified for Europe for the first time in their history, or at Marseille where they were runners-up behind Paris Saint-Germain, his combustible side has come to the fore in season two. At Brighton, disagreements over transfer policy led to his departure, while recent results in the south of France point to a not-entirely-happy camp.
Managerial changes at Marseille are nothing new — they have had 36 managers (including caretaker spells) this century — but, allowing for that Champions League exit or even the 5-0 defeat away to PSG at the weekend, it didn’t have to be this way for De Zerbi, whose win percentage of 57 per cent is the best of those aforementioned 36 managers.
Marseille supporters would probably say: ‘Rightly so’, albeit in French, on that win ratio, given they have Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mason Greenwood, Benjamin Pavard, Nayef Aguerd, Timothy Weah, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Igor Paixao and Arsenal loanee Ethan Nwaneri in their ranks.
Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri joined Marseille on loan in January (Miguel Medina / AFP via Getty Images)
However, a penchant for constantly changing the starting XI and arguments with players — he initially loved Amir Murillo so much he invited him round for dinner at his house, before selling him last week shortly after a poor throw-in helped allow Paris FC come from two goals down to draw 2-2 in a game at the end of January which led to him questioning the full-back’s commitment — have created unstability.
Ironically, at a club known for being haphazard and chaotic, the conditions De Zerbi has worked under at Marseille have been relatively serene, with plenty of backing in the transfer market. He has been supported, given time and given players. But he has been the one to generate that volatility, with incidents such as when he threatened to leave the club last season after a defeat to Auxerre, had an altercation with midfielder Ismael Kone, provoked a training-ground stand-off with his players and unleashed regular outbursts.
It should be remembered that De Zerbi is not a new upstart in the management game; he turns 47 this summer and has taken charge of 462 matches at eight clubs.
Premier League sides, perhaps even Spurs, will undoubtedly consider him in the coming weeks and months. He’s a huge personality, is now available, and his tactical prowess is undeniable.
Hiring De Zerbi has serious upsides.
Just don’t expect them to last too long.