Roberto De Zerbi will be Marseille’s new coach, according to reports in Italy and France.
The 45-year-old left Brighton at the end of the season and was considered to be from Manchester United and Chelsea.
United have since opted to keep Erik ten Hag, while Chelsea appointed Enzo Maresca after Mauricio Pochettino left Stamford Bridge by mutual agreement.
De Zerbi is also in the running to update Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich, but the Bundesliga club have chosen Vincent Kompany as Tuchel’s successor.
Meanwhile, Marseille are looking for a new head coach after their interim coach, Jean-Louis Gasset, retired at the end of the season after replacing Gennaro Gattuso in February.
According to Sportitalia and RMC Sport, Marseille are now in complex talks with De Zerbi and the Italian is about to agree to sign for the French club.
Marseille are understood to be in negotiations with Sergio Conceicao, who left Porto at the end of the season, but Ligue 1 now prioritise De Zerbi and he is in talks for a three-year contract.
De Zerbi replaced Graham Potter as Brighton manager in September 2022 and had an impressive first season, finishing sixth in the Premier League, securing European football for the first time in the club’s history.
This season, Brighton finished 11th. De Zerbi has had to deal with several injuries to key players in his team. In the Europa League, Brighton reached the round of 16, where they were defeated 4-1 on aggregate by Roma.
Asked about his long run after Brighton’s last Premier League game, De Zerbi said: “There is no club, they have presented nothing. For the moment, nothing.
“I hope to return to the Premier League League. No I don’t know where or when. But it’s an honour to return to the Premier League.
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