Pep Guardiola hailed Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi as Manchester City prepare for a visit from the Seagulls this weekend.
The Italian succeeded Graham Potter as manager at the AMEX Stadium last month after successful spells in charge at Benevento and Sassuolo, amongst other clubs, in his native country and more latterly Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine.
The two were pictured having lunch together alongside Italian midfield hero Daniele De Rossi and former City full-back Aleksandar Kolarov nine days before the former Shakhtar Donetsk and Sassuolo boss took the hotseat at the Amex.
The Italian then admitted, at his first Seagulls press conference, that he took advice from the ex-Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona manager and his assistant at City, Enzo Maresca, before accepting Albion’s job offer.
So far, De Zerbi has overseen two draws and two defeats during his time in charge on the South coast.
Ahead of this Saturday’s meeting at the Etihad, Guardiola extolled the virtues of the Brighton head coach and said De Zerbi’s ‘impact in England will be massive in the future’.
The Catalonian said: “We have seen each other two or three times, mainly talking about football. I’m really happy he is here; I saw the last two games and he is already playing the way he wants to play.
“His impact in England will be massive in the future.
“I congratulated him by phone when he was appointed. We haven’t spoken since.
“He plays a different way to Italy, the clubs and national team. His Sassuolo team was an example, no matter the quality or investment, if you believe in something 100 per cent, the way your team plays, you can do it.
“In Brighton, he took over the team from [Graham] Potter who did an incredible job. They are so dynamic without the ball, and with the ball they are incredible.
“They have players like [Alexis] MacAllister, [Solly] March, [Pascal] Groß. All have incredible quality in small spaces. You see with the ball already what he has done.”
