Manchester United face paying around £12million to land Brighton and Hove Albion boss Roberto De Zerbi this summer.
It didn’t take much for the conversation around Erik ten Hag’s future to flip again.
Four wins in a row left some wondering if Ten Hag could convince Ineos that he was the man for the long-term.
Well, defeats to Fulham and Manchester City have turned the conversation, with Ten Hag seemingly back under pressure again.
In truth, United’s performances weren’t particularly impressive even when winning and Ineos will not ignore that factor.
Ten Hag may well be replaced this summer and one of the key names in the mix is Roberto De Zerbi…
Roberto De Zerbi price tag
The Telegraph report that De Zerbi has admirers inside United with Ineos seemingly weighing up their options.
It’s added that De Zerbi will cost around £12million to prise away from Brighton this summer.
De Zerbi still has more than two years left on his Brighton deal but United may look to swoop in this summer.
That kind of price tag would see De Zerbi cost much, much more than Ten Hag did in 2022.
United paid the release clause in Ten Hag’s contract, luring from Ajax for £1.6million with assistant Mitchell van der Gaag’s arrival taking the total deal to £2.5million.
De Zerbi would cost over £10million more than Ten Hag did, and that is before even considering bringing his staff too.
De Zerbi mentioned in another report
ESPN also suggest that De Zerbi is a prime candidate to replace Ten Hag off the back of his outstanding work with Brighton.
That report also suggests that Brentford boss Thomas Frank and even England boss Gareth Southgate are on the radar.
Frank has worked wonders at Brentford but the jump to United would be a huge one and we would be surprised to see him being appointed.
Southgate knows Dan Ashworth – seemingly United-bound – from the England setup but a reunion surely isn’t right for United.
Southgate hasn’t managed in league football since 2009 and throwing him into the United job, even after doing well with England, would be bizarre.
De Zerbi makes more sense than Frank and De Zerbi for us, but much will depend on how Ten Hag finishes the campaign.
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