De Zerbi started his professional career at AC Milan. He spent four seasons on loan to lower divisions clubs Serie B to Serie C2.
Half of the registration rights were also sold to Salernitana in the β01 and β02 season. On 6 September , De Zerbi was named head coach of Serie A club Palermo following Davide Ballardini 's departure by mutual consent due to disagreements with the board.
On 13 June , De Zerbi was appointed manager of Sassuolo. In May , De Zerbi announced he would leave Sassuolo at the end of the season. De Zerbi lost his first game at Brighton's Falmer Stadium on 9 October, calling his players "fantastic" despite the 1β0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. On 18 February, he was sent off by referee Darren England following Brighton's 1β0 home defeat against Fulham.
De Zerbi was shown a red card for complaining that he had lost time to prepare for the match due to a refereeing meeting during the week. In a post-match interview, he said the "level of refereeing in the Premier League is very bad", whilst also criticising Darren England for not having a "good attitude". On 8 April , after an altercation with Tottenham Hotspur interim manager Cristian Stellini and other members of Tottenham's coaching staff during Brighton's 2β1 away defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, De Zerbi and Stellini were sent off.
Following the match, De Zerbi stated: "I am used to always respecting everyone and I want the same to me". This followed alleged comments Stellini made towards him in an article published by Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. Brighton went on to lose on penalties after a goalless minutes. The Italian responded to the defeat by saying that Brighton "have to close the page" by putting disappointment behind them and fighting for a place in Europe.
