Steve Nicol thinks Roberto De Zerbi is ‘ideal’ to replace Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool one day

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Steve Nicol believes Roberto De Zerbi would be an ideal Liverpool manager if Jurgen Klopp departed Anfield for some reason.

The Reds have been in terrible form of late and still haven’t won a Premier League game in 2023.

Heavy defeats away at Brentford, Brighton and Hove Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers have really set alarm bells ringing.

It’s not just that Liverpool are losing; it’s the manner of defeats to teams Liverpool would expect to be beating.

Liverpool seem to be coming to the end of their cycle with this team and big changes should be coming in the near future.

Could that include change in the dugout?

Some have wondered whether Jurgen Klopp may decide to step down this summer, just as he did at Borussia Dortmund in 2015.

That would be a surprise, but Liverpool may be wise to have some potential successors in mind just in case…

Steve Nicol backs Roberto De Zerbi for Liverpool

Pepijn Lijnders is bound to be in contention whenever Klopp moves on, whilst Xabi Alonso will surely have admirers at Anfield after starting well at Bayer Leverkusen.

Yet former Liverpool ace Steve Nicol thinks Liverpool should look to raid a Premier League rival by going for Brighton and Hove Albion’s Roberto De Zerbi.

Nicol has told ESPN that he can’t believe people are actually asking if Klopp should be replaced at the end of the season.

Nicol thinks it’s the players who need to be changed rather than Klopp, but did still offer a name to replace him whenever the day comes.

The Scot believes that Brighton boss De Zerbi ‘would be ideal’ as he is producing ‘absolutely fantastic football’ at the Amex Stadium.

“You’re not getting rid of Klopp, I can’t believe actually how many times I’ve heard people asking that question,” said Nicol. “Why would you get rid of Klopp? It’s the players that need to be changed, not the manager! I really can’t believe are asking this question, I just don’t see it.”

“I’ve already said that De Zerbi at Brighton has got them playing absolutely fantastic football so, to me, he would be ideal,” he added.

The Italian built up a strong reputation at Sassuolo and Shakhtar Donetsk before succeeding Graham Potter as Brighton boss.

Now impressing with the Seagulls, De Zerbi could follow Potter in taking on a huge job down the line – and Nicol is leading the shouts for him to be on Liverpool’s wish list.