Roberto De Zerbi has revealed he received a phone call from Pep Guardiola before the Italian was appointed as the new Brighton boss on Sunday evening.
The 43-year-old is seen as one of the most promising young coaches in the game and impressed during his time at Sassuolo, before also winning the Ukrainian Premier League with Shakhtar Donetsk last season. But De Zerbi left the club in July because of the situation resulting from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
He was understood to be Brighton's first choice to replace Graham Potter, who jumped ship to Chelsea earlier this month following the Blues' shock decision to sack Thomas Tuchel. De Zerbi was officially unveiled as Brighton's new manager on Tuesday afternoon, as club delayed the press conference as a mark of respect to the Queen, whose state funeral took place at Westminster Abbey on Monday morning.
