Marseille have reached an informal agreement with Roberto De Zerbi to become their new head coach.
The two parties are now working on the finer details of the deal before the appointment can be confirmed.
De Zerbi departed Brighton by mutual consent at the end of the 2023-24 campaign. Those familiar with the matter indicated he did not take a pay-off and Brighton would be in line for compensation if he immediately joined a new club.
The 45-year-old also held discussions with Manchester United before it was confirmed Erik ten Hag would remain in charge next season, and he was considered an unlikely candidate to succeed Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea.
De Zerbi would succeed Jean-Louis Gasset at Marseille following his retirement at the end of last season. The 70-year-old had been placed in interim charge in February after the dismissal of Gennaro Gattuso.
The appointment would also see De Zerbi take charge of a Ligue 1 side for the first time, having previously managed in Italy, Ukraine and England.
He joined Brighton in September 2022 and secured European football for the first time in the club’s history during his first season in charge. They finished 11th last season and his departure was confirmed ahead of the final game of the campaign.
The Athletic reported the irreconcilable differences between De Zerbi and owner-chairman Tony Bloom about how the club should operate in the transfer market was the key issue that led to his departure.
Speaking after the final game of the season, De Zerbi said he hoped he would find a club before the start of the new campaign.
“Without football is difficult for me,I will smoke more cigarettes,” he said. “I hope to find a solution before the (next) season starts, otherwise I will study other coaches, watch 100 games per week more or less.”
Coaching staff members Andrea Maldera, Ricard Segarra, Marcattilio Marcattilii, Vincenzo Teresa, Agostino Tibaudi, Marcello Quinto and Enrico Venturelli also left Brighton with him.
De Zerbi joined Brighton following his departure from Shakhtar Donetsk, after the ongoing war in Ukraine had brought an end to his 14-month reign.
The former AC Milan and Napoli midfielder won the Ukrainian Super Cup in 2021 and before that had overachieved with Sassuolo in his native Italy, guiding them to consecutive eighth-placed finishes in Serie A in 2020 and 2021, missing out on Europa Conference League qualification to Roma — who went on to win the competition — on goal difference in the latter.
Marseille, nine-time Ligue 1 champions, most recently in 2010, finished eighth last season.
(Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images)
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