Former Brighton coach De Zerbi to join French league club Marseille
Brighton's head coach Roberto De Zerbi applauds after the English Premier League soccer match between West Ham and Brighton, at the London stadium in London, on Jan. 2, 2024. Roberto De Zerbi is poised to become Marseille's new coach after the French league club announced they have reached an “agreement in principle.” Credit: AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth
MARSEILLE, France — Roberto De Zerbi is poised to become Marseille's new coach after the French league club announced it had reached an “agreement in principle.”
De Zerbi, who left Brighton after two seasons in charge, led the Premier League club to its highest ever top-flight finish of sixth, then to the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League.
Marseille said in a statement late Monday it is “currently working with all parties involved to formalize the arrival of the Italian coach and his staff on the OM bench, and to prepare for his arrival in Marseille in the coming days.”
De Zerbi will replace Jean-Louis Gasset, who retired at the end of the French league season.
Since American owner Frank McCourt bought Marseille in 2016, the former powerhouse of French soccer has failed to find any form of stability, with a succession of coaches and crises that sometimes turned violent.
The club has changed coach 30 times since the beginning of the century, the highest total of any top-flight team in France in that period. The 1993 Champions League winner missed out on European qualification after finishing eighth in the French league.
Marseille dominated domestic soccer in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was the only French team to win the Champions League. It hasn’t won its own league since 2010.