Bologna director makes Roberto De Zerbi and Claudio Ranieri claim before Brighton move

Bologna director of sport Marco Di Vaio said the club held extended talks with Roberto De Zerbi before the Italian took charge at Brighton and Hove Albion.
By Derren Howard
Published 23rd Nov 2022, 10:34 BST
Updated 23rd Nov 2022, 10:41 BST
Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi is said to have had talks with Bologna before agreeing to the role in the Premier League with AlbionBrighton boss Roberto De Zerbi is said to have had talks with Bologna before agreeing to the role in the Premier League with Albion
Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi is said to have had talks with Bologna before agreeing to the role in the Premier League with Albion

De Zerbi joined Brighton on September 19 after previous boss Graham Potter left for the riches of Chelsea. De Zerbi, 43, has made a solid start to Premier League life as Brighton are seventh in the table and are targeting a place in Europe next season, once the season resumes after the World Cup break.

It could however all have been very different as – according to Di Vaio – De Zerbi had detailed talks with Bologna after they sacked Sinisa Mihajlovic on September 6.

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In the end Bologna opted for former Barcelona, Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Italy midfielder Thiago Motta as their new boss after weighing up De Zerbi and also former Leicester City and Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri.

A week after Motta’s appointment, De Zerbi, who previously managed Sassuolo and Shakhtar Donetsk, agreed to the Brighton role.

“Motta was chosen from the list of options, which included De Zerbi and Ranieri,” Di Vaio told Radio Nettuno and reported via Football Italia.

“We exchanged ideas with them too, but only after firing Mihajlovic. Our experience with Sinisa was important and we decided to interrupt our rapport with him before contacting anyone else. After discussing it with the other alternatives for a week, we chose Thiago.”

Related topics:BrightonGraham Potter