Roberto De Zerbi leaving Brighton this summer has always been a distinct possibility, but the understated manner of the exit still came as a shock.
Announced via club statement the day before the Seagulls’ final day of the season against Manchester United, De Zerbi leaves after almost two seasons in Brighton.
He guided the club to sixth in the Premier League last season, before overseeing a run to the Europa League last 16 earlier this year.
As was the case when De Zerbi replaced Graham Potter, Brighton have always prided themselves on the thoroughness of their succession planning.
They will have their potential replacements meticulously planned, with a flurry of names already being discussed.
Here are five of the leading candidates and how they would fit it at the Amex.
Kieran McKenna
Kieran McKenna is going to be linked with virtually every major job that comes up until he eventually leaves Ipswich.
Having taken the Tractor Boys from League One to the Premier League in two seasons, the former Manchester United coach is among the highest-rated young managers in football.
But Brighton are known to hugely admire McKenna, whose bold attacking football, penchant for developing young talent and relative youth all align with their hugely-successful principles.
His preferred 4-2-3-1 formation aligns with the set-up De Zerbi has utilised throughout this season and he has helped significantly improve Brighton loanee Jeremy Sarmiento as part of his promotion squad.
McKenna has taken a largely unchanged side from the third tier to the first, with eight players starting both their promotion-sealing matches from League One and the Championship.
This ability to improve players will be hugely desirable to Tony Bloom and Brighton, who earned record profits this season thanks to their policy of signing and developing talented South American youngsters like Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister.
It had been assumed McKenna would want at least one season in the top flight with his Ipswich side, who speak about him with an almost god-like devotion, but watching Luton, Burnley and Sheffield United’s Premier League experiences this season may encourage the 38-year-old to seek more stable ground.
He has been linked with Manchester United in recent weeks, but there is every chance he would find the less-pressurised atmosphere at Brighton significantly more appealing.
Francesco Farioli
Another day, another spiky-haired young Italian head coach. Francesco Farioli has only been in charge at Nice for a season, but he has taken the Ineos-owned side from ninth to fifth in Ligue 1.
Still just 35, Nice is the Italian’s first managerial job in a top-five league after two stints in Turkey with Fatih Karagumruk and Alanyaspor.
But he started his career as a goalkeeper coach having studied philosophy and sports science at university, joining De Zerbi at Benevento in 2017 and following him to Sassuolo the following year.
Farioli reportedly comes recommended by De Zerbi, but he is far more defensive than his compatriot.
In fact, Nice have the joint-third-best defensive record across Europe’s top five leagues, with their 27 goals conceded only bettered by Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid and Inter Milan.
Yet this would not appear to align with the attack-minded philosophy and playing corps Brighton have cultivated in recent years, although Farioli did utilise a far more laissez-faire style while in Turkey.
Another potential stumbling block here is that he is currently in talks with Ajax about their vacant head coach role, although Brighton would likely be able to trump the Dutch offer if they chose to.
Ruben Amorim
Ruben Amorim already seems set to become one of those mythological footballing figures constantly linked with a Premier League move without it ever happening.
He’s been closely linked with Liverpool, West Ham and Chelsea this season alone, with his Anfield move reportedly only collapsing when the Sporting CP president doubled his asking price at the last minute.
That price – now £20m – would be a significant stumbling block in any potential move to Brighton, but a lot about this potential deal still makes sense.
Amorim clearly wants to leave Sporting, having just won his second Primeira Liga title, with a cup final against Porto still to come.
And from Brighton’s side, Amorim has been remarkably successful with Sporting, turning perennial nearly-men into two-time champions and taking them to the Champions League knockout stage.
His trademark 3-4-3 can be scintillating at best, having scored 94 league goals this season from 34 games.
He has also overseen repeated regenerations of this Sporting side, with key players sold off year-on-year with limited impact to playing style or results.
For a side like Brighton, based on a selling model, this makes the Portuguese very appealing.
Russell Martin
There’s a real trend here – all the options so far are under 40.
Russell Martin has just helped guide Southampton to the Championship play-off final, and he would be significantly less likely to take this job if his Saints side beat Leeds to promotion.
But he is highly-rated despite his lack of real success so far, not managing to finish above 10th in the league with any side before this season.
Despite starting studying for his coaching badges at 22, Martin’s first job was with MK Dons in 2019, where he was praised for implementing the possession-based style he has subsequently taken to Swansea and Southampton.
This philosophy would align with the Brighton way and his lack of Premier League experience would likely not be an issue for the Seagulls, who signed Potter having only managed Swansea and Leeds Carnegie in England.
Martin also was also born and grew up in Brighton and started his career in the Seagulls’ academy.
Martin recently told i: “People talk about risk. The risk for me is only having 30 per cent of the ball and trying to do something with it and defending really close to your own goal.
“For me when I weigh it all up, what’s a bigger risk for me? Relying on my guys to have the ball near our goal while being pressed, of course, there’s an element of risk to that, but I feel like the reward outweighs that.”
Kjetil Knutsen
We know Brighton admire Bodo/ Glimt coach Kjetil Knutsen because he was among the favourites to take over when De Zerbi was hired in September 2022.
At 53, the Norwegian is an outlier on this list, but he has had huge success in the Eliteserien, winning three of the past four titles and currently leading the 2023-24 table by two points with a game in hand.
But Knutsen has never seemed desperate to leave Bodo, where he oversaw the first time any side had put six goals past a Jose Mourinho side, against Roma in 2021-22.
Yet Knutsen’s attacking philosophy is as exciting as it is impressive and there is every chance Bloom and Brighton will look seriously at him as a managerial option once again.
Other possible contenders
A host of other possible names have already been attached to the Brighton job, including West Brom boss Carlos Corberan, Burnley’s Vincent Kompany and former Seagulls boss Graham Potter.
Potter has been without a job since leaving Chelsea in April 2023, while Kompany’s stock has somewhat fallen this season after Burnley’s instant relegation back to the Championship.
Steve Cooper and Liam Rosenior are two interesting options who would cost nothing to bring in, although the latter is unlikely to excite the fans on the back of two mildly successful seasons with Hull.
Stuttgart boss Sebastian Hoeness has also been linked with the Brighton job, although he will likely want to remain in Germany having secured Champions League qualification and beating Bayern Munich to second spot.
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