Reported Tottenham Hotspur target Roberto De Zerbi has earned praise from retired Italy international Antonio Cassano.
The 40-year-old spoke about the Spurs-linked manager on Bobo TV, via Area Napoli and Sport Witness.
The Daily Mail recently reported that De Zerbi is among the names that Spurs have considered as Antonio Conte’s replacement.
Tottenham apparently made initial inquiries about the Italian, but he has since slipped down Daniel Levy’s managerial wish list.
Now, Cassano has claimed that De Zerbi is “the strongest” coach after Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.
“He sent me a message and the content is very long,” the Bari-born ace said.
“I annoyed him a bit. He wrote me that he always follows us and after the championship, he’s available to come to Bobo TV’.
“I heard him very happy and replied that with all my heart I support Brighton and I hope he stays there.
“We always talk about MacAllister, Caicedo, and Mitoma but he pointed me to other players who are really strong – Dunk, March, Gross, and the young lad Ferguson.
“He repeated to me that he enjoys it so much and that at the moment he finds it hard to think of other teams as Brighton is something unique.
“I replied that I hope to see him return to Italy and coach the strongest teams because he is the strongest after Guardiola.
“Football in England is another dimension. Some runaways would leave at the first opportunity. He would like to stay at Brighton.”
‘The world’s best coach
While this may be a blow for Tottenham, it won’t be surprising to many Spurs fans.
After all, De Zerbi never really seemed to feature particularly highly on Tottenham’s wishlist.
Besides, he really doesn’t seem to be in any rush to leave the Seagulls.
And why would he? They’re still very much in the hunt for a European finish this season.
De Zerbi has worked wonders at the Amex Stadium since taking over from Graham Potter in September.
He has continued his predecessor’s good work and looks set for a record-high Premier League finish with his club.
De Zerbi has quickly won everyone at Brighton over, with one player singing his praises especially highly.
Yasin Ayari told Aftonbladet: “He’s magical. The world’s best coach.
“Everything works. When it comes to tactics, I’ve never seen anyone like him in my entire life.”
At this moment in time, Julian Nagelsmann and Arne Slot look like the frontrunners for the Tottenham job.
Nevertheless, it’ll be interesting to see what the future holds for De Zerbi.
One player says he’s the best coach in the world, and one of his peers is putting him in the same league as Guardiola.
Over the coming years, who knows what De Zerbi’s CV and trophy cabinet will look like.
