If the latest reports around Marseille manager Roberto De Zerbi are true then there is a totally new look to Manchester United’s summer managerial business. As Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos hierarchy attempted to change coach at Old Trafford, the Italian was one of many considered.
Despite his impressive first 12 months in England – in which he led Brighton to a Europa League place, playing some of the smoothest football in the country – De Zerbi tanked by the end. He went from an adored passion machine on the sidelines to being actively wanted out by the same fans.
Brighton followed up their historic sixth-spot finish with a bottom-half one. De Zerbi saw out a single full season – he took over in October of the 2022/23 campaign after Graham Potter was poached by Chelsea – and left. Ironically, his last game was against United.
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The Italian’s exit from the south coast was announced days before United visited the Amex Stadium on the final day of the season. Erik ten Hag was expected to leave his post as well at the time. It had been suggested he would be dismissed regardless of the result in the FA Cup final.
De Zerbi, as a young, charismatic head coach with (some) proven success in the Premier League and a stock that remained high even after his struggles, was unsurprisingly widely tipped to be in the mix for Ten Hag’s job. What followed was just as unsurprisingly ugly.
Ten Hag was kept in purgatory as Ineos searched for a replacement. De Zerbi was one of several spoken to. After falling short at each hurdle to appoint a successor, Ten Hag signed a new contract.
By this stage, Marseille had made De Zerbi their new leader. He was part of a desired revolution in the south of France. Mason Greenwood was signed.
As the 2024/25 campaign began, it was a massive contrast for both clubs. Marseille revelled in having a boss of De Zerbi’s calibre. United reeled from keeping Ten Hag. Had De Zerbi not been overseeing a strong start in Ligue 1 when Ratcliffe met with his new-look think-tank during the October international break then his name would almost certainly have been as prevalent as Thomas Tuchel’s.
Instead, United stuck with Ten Hag for six weeks longer, making it five months since nearly sacking him anyway, and moved quickly to appoint Ruben Amorim. That is modern day, but could it all have been different?
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According to French output L’Equipe, yes. They suggest that De Zerbi was not only offered the United hot seat but that he went a step further to motivate his new team. It is written that he went as far as showing his players a picture of a contract from United on the eve of the season.
He is described as saying that he could have been at Old Trafford if he put money before passion. Marseille, he told them, was his fuel for passion.
Marseille followed that up with a 5-1 opening day win. They have won five of the 10 since and are third in the table. That doesn’t mean it’s all easy going for De Zerbi, who remains as highly combustible as ever.
“If I’m the problem, I’m ready to leave,” he said at a press conference after being defeated 3-1 by Auxerre on Friday. “I’ll leave without the money, I don’t care about all the rest.”
L’Equipe add that he fumed at the players as well. He allegedly said they had humiliated him. Four months into his time, with over two-and-a-half years left to run on his contract, De Zerbi’s methods are once more under the microscope. Had this been at Old Trafford then the attention on such words would have been dramatically increased.
There will be questions of this tactic from De Zerbi from those at United. They claim that nobody was offered the job all summer regardless of how far talks went, and that Amorim was the first person to have an official contract put in front of them.
If there is any truth, let alone entire truth, to De Zerbi and United with these latest allegations then it would alter the perception of the summer chase. Amorim was admired but not pursued to the extent of others earlier in the year. But ultimately, United have the man they now believe can return them to the top of club football again.
