Ligue 1 Outfit Marseille And Gaffer Roberto De Zerbi Mutually Agree To Split

Last Updated:February 11, 2026, 17:41 IST

The 46-year-old Italian, who had managed the French unit since 2024, is speculated to return to the Premier League after Marseille

Roberto De Zerbi has mutually agreed to leave Marseille, the French club announced early Wednesday, following their 5-0 defeat by rivals Paris Saint-Germain. The 46-year-old Italian, who had managed the team since summer 2024, is speculated to return to the Premier League.

Marseille exited the Champions League last month and suffered a heavy loss to PSG on Sunday, placing them fourth in Ligue 1. Amidst ongoing speculation about De Zerbi’s future, the club released a statement: “After discussions among the club’s management — including the owner, president, director of football, and coach — it was decided to change the leadership of the first team. This was a difficult collective decision, made after careful consideration, to address the sporting challenges for the rest of the season."

Despite conducting training sessions on Monday and Tuesday, a source confirmed that after a meeting with club officials, both parties agreed to part ways.

“A change of approach was necessary to ensure we achieve our objectives, particularly qualifying for the Champions League," said the source.

Last season, De Zerbi led Marseille to a second-place finish behind PSG. They started this season strongly, topping the league with a 6-2 victory over Le Havre in mid-October. By the end of November, after a 5-1 win at Nice, they were second, just two points behind PSG. However, they have only won three of their last eight league matches, leaving them 12 points behind the reigning champions and three points behind Lyon for the final automatic Champions League qualification spot. Fourth place would require a play-off to enter the group stage.

More damaging were the consecutive 3-0 losses to Liverpool at home and Club Brugge away, ending their Champions League campaign. They missed out on the knockout stages on goal difference, as Benfica’s goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin scored a last-minute goal against Real Madrid, pushing the Portuguese side ahead in the standings.

De Zerbi admitted a few weeks ago that he had “no explanation" for his team’s inconsistent form, saying, “If I had the solution, I would find it at any cost." He joined Marseille after a successful two-year stint at Premier League Brighton, where he led the team to a sixth-place finish in his first season. Before that, he managed the Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk. Marseille have now had six full-time coaches in the past four years.

(With Inputs From Agencies)

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