ROBERTO De Zerbi showed his Marseille players his Manchester United job offer in an unbelievable team-talk, according to reports.
The former Brighton boss, 45, was linked with a move to Old Trafford this summer but left for France before United handed Erik ten Hag a contract extension.
Man Utd have since sacked Ten Hag with new boss Ruben Amorim set to take charge tomorrow.
But a report from L’Equipe would suggest that Amorim may not have been their first choice for the job with De Zerbi receiving a contract offer from the Red Devils in the summer.
The French outlet have claimed that, prior to Marseille’s first game of the season, De Zerbi got out a projector to show his new players his contract offer from Man Utd.
Reportedly telling the squad: “This is where I could have been, but I put my passion before money. I came to Marseille for the passion.”
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It clearly worked as Marseille battered State Brest 5-1 away from home to start their campaign.
However, the ex-Seagulls gaffer has seen his Marseille team struggle in recent weeks, winning just two of their last six games in all competitions.
And after falling NINE points behind league leaders PSG in the Ligue 1 standings, De Zerbi may have resort to some crazy measures to try and get his team ticking once again.
A 3-1 defeat to to Auxerre on Friday prompted another crazy rant by De Zerbi in his post-match press conference.
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Roberto De Zerbi’s managerial career
A brief look at De Zerbi’s time as a manager…
Darfo Boario (2013-2014)
Games: 22
Wins: 5
Win percentage: 22.7%
Foggia (2014-2016)
Games: 90
Wins: 48
Win percentage: 53.3%
Palermo (2016)
Games: 13
Wins: 1
Win percentage: 7.7%
Benevento (2017-2018)
Games: 29
Wins: 6
Win percentage: 20.6%
Sassuolo (2018-2021)
Games: 120
Wins: 43
Win percentage: 35.8%
Shakhtar Donetsk (2021-2022)
Games: 30
Wins: 20
Win percentage: 66.6%
Brighton (2022-2024)
Games: 89
Wins: 38
Win percentage: 42.7%
Marseille (2024-present)
Games: 11
Wins: 6
Win percentage: 54.5%
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The tactician threatened to quit after reportedly fuming that his players had “humiliated” him and the club in front of their own fans in a changing room dressing down.
Speaking in his press conference, he said: “If I’m the problem, I’m ready to leave.
“I’ll leave without the money, I don’t care about all the rest.
“I came to Marseille for the Velodrome, to play at the Velodrome. And I can’t get the players to give here what I see in training and in away games. It’s my fault, it’s my responsibility.
“Playing at the Velodrome is a privilege. I want to be able to pass on to the people who work with me what I think about football. And I can’t do that.”
De Zerbi’s current contract runs until June 2027.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
