Manchester City journalist Sam Lee has suggested that Roberto De Zerbi could be a potential candidate to replace Pep Guardiola.
The Brighton & Hove Albion manager did City a big favour on Sunday by seeing his side beat Arsenal 3-0 at the Emirates, resulting in the Citizens needing just one more victory to wrap up the title.
Speaking on the latest edition of the Let Me Talk podcast, Lee had this to say about De Zerbi and the possibility of him being seen as a potential replacement for Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium.
He said: “In terms of the way they play out from the back, that puts him in the frame. He is an interesting one to keep an eye on because there’s not an obviously massive pool of who on earth could replace Guardiola.
“But in terms of the coaching and the style of play and that identifiable style, to be fair everything he says and everything he’s building at Brighton does suggest that he is a good man-manager and he is doing things the right way but that step and leading City-calibre players is an interesting one.”
Since replacing Graham Potter at Brighton back in September, the 43-year-old has taken charge of 35 games across all competitions, winning 18, drawing six and losing 11.
The City boss has previously been very positive towards the Seagulls manager, claiming back in October that his impact at Brighton will be “massive.”
With the Italian looking likely to have secured European football for his side next season, it’s clear that Guardiola’s prediction about De Zerbi has come true.
Whether that ends up putting him in the conversation to be a potential replacement for the City manager whenever he leaves the club, however, will become more clear as time goes on.
