Todd Boehly, the owner of Chelsea, may decide to reconsider a crucial choice at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly could be about to U-turn on the appointment of a new manager (Image: GETTY
Todd Boehly, the owner of Chelsea, is reportedly considering Roberto De Zerbi, a former Brighton manager, to succeed Mauricio Pochettino, which suggests that the American may be about to make a U-turn on the selection of a new manager.
After the Argentine had led a comeback on the field during the second half of the season, the Blues and Pochettino called it quits on Tuesday.
At the end of May of last year, Chelsea hired Pochettino as their manager. The former Tottenham manager was chosen over a wide field of applicants for the position.
De Zerbi, who was then winning praise after a strong debut season at the AMEX Stadium, was one man who was connected to the opening. However, The Athletic claims that Chelsea didn’t think seriously about the Italian at the time because his profile wasn’t what they were looking for.
Choosing to remain on the south coast, De Zerbi helped the Seagulls win five of their first six Premier League games in 2023–24. These victories included 4–1 triumphs over Luton and Wolves as well as 3–1 triumphs over Manchester United and Newcastle.
However, Brighton’s performance quickly collapsed, as they only managed to win three of their next sixteen Premier League games. After the Seagulls’ 2-0 loss to Man United on the last day of the season, De Zerbi was sent out of the AMEX exit, and the south coast team managed just one victory in their next ten league games.
Ex-Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi is reportedly in the running to take over as Chelsea manager (Image: GETTY)
De Zerbi has managed 62 Brighton games since Chelsea decided they weren’t interested in hiring him, winning 23 and losing 24.
Given his lackluster track record, it’s unexpected that Boehly has now changed his opinion of the 44-year-old.
Brighton may have finished in sixth place under De Zerbi’s leadership in the 2022–2023 campaign, but in the most recent campaign, the team only managed to finish in 11th place with 12 wins in the top flight.
That isn’t really De Zerbi’s progress. De Zerbi will find it difficult to demonstrate that he is the right man to bring success to Stamford Bridge if 2019 Champions League finalist Pochettino wasn’t the right man for the Chelsea job after leading the Blues to Europa League qualification as well as appearances in the Carabao Cup final and the FA Cup semi-finals.
De Zerbi is reportedly the fourth manager on Chelsea’s shortlist, behind Thomas Frank of Brentford, Kieran McKenna of Ipswich, and Enzo Maresca of Leicester, according to the Daily Mail.
Furthermore, Boehly’s choice of De Zerbi could cast doubt on the businessman’s and his colleagues’ overarching strategy in the Stamford Bridge boardroom.
