'A Special Man' - Welbeck Drools Over De Zerbi's Impact At Brighton

Brighton strengthened their chances of securing European football next season with a resounding 6-0 trouncing of Wolverhampton Wanderers at the AMEX Stadium on Saturday.

The big win was more impressive given De Zerbi rested key players Moises Caicedo, Kaoru Mitoma and World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister.

Brighton still have seven games left to play and are two points behind Aston Villa, who occupy the Europa Conference League spot.

Graham Potter's departure for Chelsea back in September has proven to be a blessing in disguise for Brighton, who turned to De Zerbi as his replacement.

The Italian's free-flowing attacking football has won him a lot of admirers and some big clubs are reportedly interested in pricing him away from Brighton.

“We’re obviously very happy to have him here,” Welbeck, who played for Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger earlier in his career, said of his current manager.

“Playing for him and his team and his style, it’s unbelievable.

“I think every single job that comes up, with him doing so well, he’s going to be getting linked to that. But hopefully he’s still here.

“I don’t like to rank managers because I’ve got a lot of respect for each and every one, you learn so much from every single manager you have, but he’s definitely a special manager and the style of play is so enjoyable to play underneath.

“You learn so much every single day. He’s a special man.”

“Every single day at the training ground he’s always the same,” said the 32-year-old.

“He’s very direct and he knows how he wants his team to play and, credit to the boys, everybody has bought into his style.

“He keeps everybody motivated, everybody on their toes wanting to be better, wanting to improve, the young players are getting opportunities. He’s doing an unbelievable job.

“I’m loving it. It’s very enjoyable. It’s a great football club to be at.”