Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi is on the shortlist for some top jobs, including Liverpool and Manchester United, but the in-demand Italian tactician won’t come cheap

Roberto De Zerbi would command a sizable fee for any club wishing to lure the highly-rated Italian coach away from Brighton.

De Zerbi has been linked with the vacant jobs at Liverpool and Barcelona this summer, as well as with Manchester United.

He is well regarded by rival clubs who covet his coaching ability and are willing to overlook Brighton’s patchy form this season.

The Seagulls are ninth in the Premier League following their 3-0 thrashing by Fulham on the weekend, but face a huge first leg against Roma in the last-16 of the Europa League on Thursday. De Zerbi has earned plaudits by winning 35 of his 76 games in charge of Brighton since arriving in September 2022 following stints at Shakhtar Donetsk and Sassuolo.

Liverpool are searching for a successor to Jurgen Klopp, who will step down at the end of the season, while Barcelona need to replace the outgoing Xavi Hernandez. Meanwhile, Erik ten Hag has been given no assurances over his future as United boss, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford considering their options for the summer.

Brighton are no strangers to having their talent – both coaches and players – poached and have ensured they are protected. They are yet to receive any formal approaches, but clubs know that hiring De Zerbi would cost around £12.8million, with the 44-year-old under contract until 2026. The club received £21.5m when Graham Potter and his staff moved to Chelsea last season and have proven extremely shrewd operators in selling on their star players too.

For his part, De Zerbi is happy at Brighton, with the Europa League campaign a real focus. Speaking about his future recently, he said: “When I hear the big teams are interested in me, it’s an honour, but my focus is on my work day by day.

“About the future? I want to compete in the best way I can, I want to understand the plan and then it’s not a problem to work at a big team. I would like in my career to compete to win the Premier League, Serie A, the, Bundesliga, Champions League – but there isn’t a time when have to go.”

He hasn’t ruled out signing a new contract with the Seagulls, which would further increase the amount any rivals would have to pay to land him. Despite spending huge amounts on players, many clubs have been reluctant to fork out cash for managers.

“I usually work to be happy and to enjoy and I feel very good in Brighton,” De Zerbi said around Christmas. “I have a great relationship with the players, with the club, with Tony [Bloom, chairman], with Paul Barber [chief executive], with David Weir [technical director] and everybody who works in Brighton. Yes, we are speaking about the new contract but at the moment we are [only] speaking, it’s not done yet.”