Brighton top managerial contender spotted having lunch with Pep Guardiola as Albion talks progress

Roberto De Zerbi has been heavily linked with the Albion role after Graham Potter and the management team left Brighton last week and joined Chelsea.

De Zerbi, 43, is one of the names under consideration from the Brighton board and it is believed the club will hold discussions with the Italian this week.

The former Shakhtar Donetsk head coach is currently out of work, having been forced to leave the Ukrainian club following the Russian invasion.

De Zerbi made his name in Serie A with Sassuolo and earned a reputation of improving existing players, developing young talent and playing an attractive style. All qualities that appeal to the Albion decision makers.

Last week De Zerbi was spotted having lunch in Italy with Man City boss Pep Guardiola, Italian midfield great Daniele De Rossi and former City star Aleksander Kolarov.

It is thought that Kolarov, who has vast Premier League experience, could join De Zerbi as an assistant in any future role.

Guardiola has previously praised De Zerbi’s style as a coach and said last year: "Italian football will always have an element of defend and counter, because that's an aspect that is admired abroad and part of your culture.

“But with the revolution of Arrigo Sacchi and lately coaches like Maurizio Sarri and Roberto De Zerbi, there are teams who play the ball more and therefore also concede more."

De Zerbi also had words of praise for Guardiola as the Italian previously stated: "Better to lose the Champions League final with Guardiola than to win it with someone else."

Brighton chief executive and deputy chairman Paul Barber insists the search for a new head coach is in full swing and the club will hope to make a speedy appointment as it will give time for any new manager to work with the players before their next match at Liverpool on October 1.

“There has certainly been a huge amount of interest and I’m not surprised,” Barber said.

“Partly because over the last three years, probably since we joined the Premier League actually, the club’s profile has changed significantly.

“I think it’s the style of football we have been playing has meant we have won a lot of admirers over the last few years.

As a consequence of that we have attracted a lot of interest already that perhaps we wouldn’t have done maybe three years ago, let alone five or ten.

“That is credit to Graham but also credit to the way the club has developed over the last decade and the chairman’s influence and vision for the club that has put us in this position now where we will have a lot of choice.”