BRADFORD, ENGLAND – AUGUST 3: Roberto De Zerbi manager of Olympique Marseille during the pre-season friendly match between Sunderland and Olympique Marseille at University of Bradford Stadium on August 3, 2024 in Bradford, England. (Photo by Nigel Roddis/Getty Images)
Roberto De Zerbi insists Inter ‘never called me’ to be their new coach, blasts Italian football for ‘arrogance’ around PSG in the Champions League Final and warns Italy’s problems are ‘not the fault of the coaches.’
The Italian took over at Olympique Marseille last summer and steered them to second place in Ligue 1, so he is eager to continue the project, despite repeated links with Milan, Inter, Napoli, Roma, Juventus, and Tottenham Hotspur.
“Inter never called me,” De Zerbi told Alessandro Cattelan’s Supernova podcast in Italy.
“I already started talking to future players 20 days ago and visited the club owner in Miami. When I make a commitment, I take it full term.
“However, if I feel betrayed, then there’s no contract that can hold me. If I don’t get back what I give in terms of respect and honesty, then I will leave.”
De Zerbi not surprised by PSG triumph
The 46-year-old maintains Olympique Marseille was a step up from his time at Brighton and Hove Albion, rejecting some of the insulting views that have been expressed on the quality of Ligue 1 football.
That is all the more obvious after Inter were swept aside 5-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League Final.
“Inter are a great team and Inzaghi is a great coach, so a five-goal gap is excessive,” explained De Zerbi.
“The problem is that Italian football didn’t know about PSG and was arrogant. They didn’t know that every time they start from kick-off booting it out of touch like rugby, or that Ousmane Dembele stays up near the edge of the area to pounce on loose passes, or that Doué is a talent on the same level as Yamal, even if not yet as decisive.
They didn’t know that Vitinha is perhaps currently the best midfielder in the world, nor about Neves and Pacho. In Italy, they didn’t write a single line about my Marseille getting second place and they snub Ligue 1, not realising it is a difficult league.
“Football is difficult everywhere, just look at what happened to Italy in Norway.”
Luciano Spalletti was sacked following that 3-0 defeat in Oslo, making their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign an uphill struggle already.
This means the very real risk the Nazionale will fail to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup.
“As an Italian abroad, it hurts to see Italy like this. I think at the moment there is just a lack of players at a certain level, and that means something is being done wrong somewhere,” continued De Zerbi.
“I don’t know who to blame, but it is not the fault of the coaches, as there has been a series of them on the bench. Nobody could do things that much differently.
“This is not the era of Totti, Del Piero, Inzaghi, Montella, when you had so many strikers that you didn’t know who to bring along to tournaments. That is what’s happening for France and Spain now, but not Italy.
“Apart from four or five really strong players, like Bastoni, Barella, Tonali and Locatelli, there isn’t much talent out there. We can’t even compete with players like Haaland, Odegaard and Nusa. Our level is low.”
