Brighton chief Paul Barber has warned Barcelona off a move for manager Roberto De Zerbi after the Italian emerged as a potential replacement for Xavi.
The Catalans are searching for a new coach to take charge after Xavi steps down at the end of the season, but Barber thinks his club can keep hold of the Italian.
“We want Roberto to stay as long as possible because he’s doing a great job. It’s not rocket science to work out that the better someone does in a job, the more they’re going to be linked with other jobs and potentially at bigger clubs that are playing in even higher-level competitions than us,” he told BBC Radio Sussex,
“But when we’re operating in the top six or seven of the Premier League, when we’re in the last 16 of the Europa League, when we’re still in the FA Cup - we’re operating at the highest levels of the game, so we’re confident we’ve got an attractive package here to want to work with and stay with us.