Roberto De Zerbi appointed Brighton head coach on four-year deal

Roberto De Zerbi will be the new head coach of the Seagulls for four years.

The Italian has been without a job since leaving Shakhtar in July. He was in charge of Sassuolo for three years before taking the Shakhtar job.

He won the Ukrainian Super Cup with Shakhtar and earned rave reviews for his style of football.

In London earlier this week, De Zebri met chairman Tony Bloom, chief executive Paul Barber, and David Weir, who were all in attendance at the Amex on Saturday.

It is hoped that the group will be in place for the game against the Reds on Saturday.

Since Graham Potter left for CHELSEA, BRIGHTON have been looking for a new manager.

De Zerbi will not be formally introduced to the media until Tuesday afternoon.

Roberto has agreed to be our new coach. Roberto's teams play an exciting and courageous brand of football, and I am confident his style and tactical approach will suit our existing squad very well.

Roberto has shown his ability with his work in Italy and Ukraine, and what he achieved at Sassuolo definitely stands out.

After a short time with Shakhtar, he enjoyed further success, leading the club to cup success and topping the Ukrainian league before the war halted his time there."

We look forward to introducing Roberto to our squad as well as providing all the support he needs to introduce his coaching philosophy and help the players continue their brilliant start to the season," the club said in a statement.

Paul Barber said, "We looked at a number of excellent candidates but Roberto was our number one choice from the beginning."

As part of our succession planning work, our chairman constantly monitors potential coaches, both here in our domestic league and throughout Europe and the world.

Roberto is the perfect person to continue the club's progress and work with the outstanding group of players.

De Zerbi's coaching career so far

• 2013 to 2014: Began his coaching career with Italian amateur side Darfo Boario.
• 2014 to 2016: Joined Serie C side Foggia, winning the Coppa Italia Serie C and narrowly missing out on promotion.
• 2016: Spent two and a half months at Serie A side Palermo, but was sacked after a poor start to the season.
• 2017 to 2018: Joined recently promoted Serie A side Benevento. De Zerbi earned plaudits despite his side's relegation back to Serie B.
• 2018 to 2021: Appointed manager of Sassuolo, leading the club to two successive eighth-place finishes. Missed out on the Europa Conference League to Roma on goal difference in 2021.
• 2021 to 2022: Took his first job outside of Italy at Shakhtar Donetsk, winning the Ukrainian Super Cup in September 2021. Left the role due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

What's coming up for De Zerbi?

The Italian has two weeks to set up his backroom staff in time for the international break in the premier league. He will be able to work with the players who aren't playing for their country.

He will start his reign with a trip to Liverpool on Saturday October 1st, before welcoming Spurs to the Amex on Saturday October 8th, live on Sky Sports.

De Zerbi's side will be on Sky Sports for Friday Night Football on October 14 with a trip to Brentford and a game against Forest on the same day.

On Saturday October 22 BRIGHTON will play Manchester City at the Eithad and on Saturday October 29 BRIGHTON will play Graham Potter and CHELSEA.