The “reason behind Liverpool rejecting Roberto De Zerbi” to take over from Jurgen Klopp is that they “won’t go near him.”

Following Xabi Alonso’s decision to stay at Bayer Leverkusen, Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi emerged as the front-runner to succeed leaving Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.

According to Mark Lawrenson, Roberto De Zerbi’s cryptic remarks regarding his future at Brighton mean that Liverpool won’t approach him.

After Xabi Alonso declared he would not be staying at Bayer Leverkusen, the Seagulls manager emerged as the front-runner to succeed departing manager Jurgen Klopp in the summer.

Since then, rumours have surfaced suggesting that De Zerbi is also out of the race, and former Liverpool player Lawrence thinks the Italian is “getting carried away” with all of the attention surrounding him.

Lawrenson informed Paddy Power, “We’ve seen how much money they’ve made this year.” I felt that Roberto De Zerbi’s statement last week that he wants additional players was a little inappropriate. His major break came from Brighton, and he’s done incredibly well.

“But I don’t think Liverpool will go near him once you go down that path of asking for additional players, and perhaps his agency is talking to other teams.

“He is a capable manager, but I believe he is exaggerating since Brighton hasn’t had a great season. He has not addressed the additional games and has attributed it on a lack of players. De Zerbi is not going to Liverpool, and he may have turned off one or two potential team owners.

“Brighton is a professionally managed team; they acquired £22 million for Graham Potter and his backroom crew. They’ll just bring in a new manager, and given the way they’re now run, they most likely already know who will take over as manager.”

De Zerbi recently acknowledged that he hasn’t signed a new deal with Brighton, giving the impression that he wants greater control over transfers before he commits to the team long-term.

“I have a different way to decide my future,” he stated. “I would like to talk to my club. I have a contract, but the issue isn’t the contract itself; rather, it’s finding a shared goal, strategy, and outlook for the future.

“As for myself, I haven’t made a decision yet because I have a contract, but I want to talk to Tony Bloom, my club, to learn about their plan, his plan, and Tony’s plan. Then, without any issues, we make the choice together.”