Breaking News: Brighton and Hove Albion’s Chairman Tony Bloom reveals the brutal truth behind De Zerbi’s exit from Brighton

Brighton and Hove Albion’s Chairman Tony Bloom has revealed just why Roberto de Zerbi was surprisingly let go from his post at the end of last season, stemming from a fundamental disagreement between the Italian and the club that was present from day one.

De Zerbi in demand

Ahead of Brighton’s clash with Manchester United on the final day of the 2023-24 Premier League season, the Seagulls announced that Italian coach Roberto De Zerbi would be leaving the club.

“We have mutually agreed to end Roberto’s contract at a time that suits both parties allowing us the earliest opportunity to plan for next season, and Roberto plenty of time to consider his next move and his future”, Bloom explained.

It came as a major shock, with De Zerbi having been hailed by fellow managers and the media for his stint at the AMEX Stadium, and having been linked with a move to Chelsea, Manchester United, Barcelona and AC Milan, only for his release clause on the south coast to prove prohibitive.

He helped guide Brighton to their first ever taste of European football, but a tough season saw them slip to 11th as injuries and defensive woes crippled the Seagulls in the wake of the exits of Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister the previous summer.

Now at Marseille, the top level interest which promised to transpire never did, and now Bloom has revealed just why his sudden exit had to happen.

Fundamental disagreement over transfer strategy

That comes thanks to a major disagreement over the transfer strategy that Brighton utilise, which often revolves around selling their best assets for a massive profit and replacing them with young, largely unknown talents based on data-driven recruitment, as they did when replacing Caicedo with youngster Carlos Baleba.

The transfer and scouting department have the major and final say on proceedings, something that De Zerbi was clearly not keen to buy into, judging by comments made by Bloom about his departure.

“Roberto had thoughts on certain players, but that is not the way we as a club work. The club will decide on the players potentially to bring into the club, in conjunction with the head coach”, Bloom explained to The Athletic.

“It’s not a situation, the way we work, that the head coach says, ‘I like this player and that player’, and that’s what we do (in terms of signings). If a head coach has some ideas, that comes in as part of the process, but a head coach really liking a player has got to fit many characteristics, it has got to fit with the data analysis we do.From Manchester City to Ipswich Town, here’s a look at each Premier League club’s most expensive signing.

“When Roberto came in (After Graham Potter’s departure in September 2022), we explained the process and the philosophy. If there is non-alignment between the head coach and the club, things are never going to work out long-term.”

Clearly successful as a strategy to date, even the ability of De Zerbi in the dugout was not enough to convince Brighton to change their policies, and they will be hoping that in Fabian Hurzeler they have found a man who is just as tactically adept while also being happy to work with the players he is given.