Barcelona, Manchester United and Bayern Munich will have to fork out Roberto De Zerbi’s release clause this summer if they want to prise the Italian from Brighton.

De Zerbi, 44, replaced Graham Potter as Seagulls boss in September 2022.

He has gone on to excel on the South Coast, guiding his side to a sixth place finish last season.

His exceptional work has seen him attract strong interest from Barcelona, with Xavi set to leave at the end of the season.

Reports in Spain have described De Zerbi as Barca’s “chosen one” – and claim that meetings have already taken place between his agents and the Catalan club’s sporting director Deco.

De Zerbi is under contract at Brighton until June 2026 and won’t come cheap.

The Seagulls are set to demand that his £12.8million release clause be paid in full, should a club want to appoint their manager.

According to Spanish paper Sport this is proving to be a stumbling block for Barca, with the skint LaLiga champions not wanting to pay at all.

Even if Barcelona cannot get De Zerbi, the Italian also has admirers at Bayern Munich and Liverpool.

Both Bayern and the Reds, like Barcelona, are set to hire new bosses at the end of the season – with Thomas Tuchel and Jurgen Klopp leaving their respective posts.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is understood to have considered potential replacements for Erik Ten Hag should they decide to make a change.

Roberto de Zerbi is understood to be of interest to Manchester United.