Roberto De Zerbi's desire to work in a stable, secure structure could pose a problem for Chelsea after it emerged that the Italian coach is on the Blues' shortlist of candidates to replace Graham Potter at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea shelled out around £22million in compensation in order to prise Potter and five members of his backroom staff away from Brighton back in September which, in turn, led to De Zerbi landing the Brighton job.
But less than seven months on, Potter has been sacked after winning just 12 of his 31 games at the helm - and De Zerbi is attracting admiring glances from the Chelsea hierarchy after building on his predecessor's fine work at the Amex Stadium.
According to The Independent, De Zerbi features on a managerial shortlist which also includes Julian Nagelsmann, Mauricio Pochettino and Luis Enrique after steering Brighton to the brink of European qualification this term. The Blues are seeking a head coach who will buy into the idea of developing a young, progressive squad.
However, it remains to be seen if De Zerbi would be enticed by the opportunity to succeed Potter at Stamford Bridge if Chelsea do elect to firm up their interest in him following the conclusion of the current Premier League campaign.
A recent report from The Athletic outlined that De Zerbi made it clear during his initial discussions with the Seagulls that he wanted to work in a 'structure with clarity' - something he has at the Amex with chief executive Paul Barber and technical director David Weir.
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Things would be different at Chelsea, however, who are still ironing out the kinks of a club hierarchy which was only put together back in September. And given that De Zerbi has already seen his Brighton predecessor burned by the structural chaos at Stamford Bridge, it remains to be seen if the current Seagulls chief would be keen to follow in Potter's footsteps again.
Speaking on Monday, De Zerbi admitted that he felt sorry for Potter as the news of his departure continued to be digested following Sunday night's shock announcement.
"I am very sorry. It is bad news for the coaches. I think you give too much importance to the coaches because the players are always the most important and I don't like when coaches are sacked because the responsibility is not only with them. The players, the club, it's not very good news," De Zerbi told the media.
"I want to say thanks to Graham Potter. I have a team with a very good attitude and mentality. It is difficult when you don't know the situation or another dressing room. I don't like speaking about other teams and coaches. I am sorry because when there are these situations they are sad."
