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| Leandro Trossard of Brighton & Hove Albion controls the ball during the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Arsenal FC at American Express Community Stadium on December 31, 2022 in Brighton, England. |
Leandro Trossard will not be a part of Brighton & Hove Albion’s matchday squad for their Premier League match against Liverpool on Saturday.
Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi has said he does “not like” Trossard’s attitude, claiming the forward left a training session last week without his prior permission.
Trossard, 28, has struggled for form since returning from the 2022 World Cup with Belgium.
He was left on the bench for the club’s most recent Premier League match, a 4-1 victory at Everton, and was not included in Saturday’s 5-1 FA Cup win against Middlesbrough.
Ahead of the game against Liverpool, De Zerbi said: “Leandro isn’t on the list of players for tomorrow.
“Leandro knows very well my opinion. The last session before the Middlesbrough game, when he understood he wasn’t playing, he left the session without telling me anything.
“That isn’t good. On Monday I spoke with him and explained I don’t like this attitude.”
De Zerbi added that he does “not know” what Trossard’s “problem” is and urged him to work hard to regain his place in the squad.
He said: “He knows very well that if he wants to play with me he has to work hard, to run, to be in the right way.
“We are not a big team, like Real Madrid or Barcelona, we are Brighton and he has to work like the other players.”
“I don’t know what the problem is. I want to be honest. I’m open with him.”
Brighton have an option to extend Trossard’s existing contract, which runs out this summer, by another year to June 2024.
According to reports in Belgium, the 28-year-old has persistently rejected offers of a new deal.
