Brighton's Kaoru Mitoma has burst onto the scene and taken the Premier league by storm this season, establishing himself of one of the most exciting wingers in Europe
With a number of clubs said to be considering a move for the Japanese star in the summer, De Zerbi has subtly fended off interest in his player. On Tuesday, Brighton held an open training session and some young fans were given the chance to ask the Seagulls boss some questions.
One supporter asked the Italian if he wanted to be Mitoma. De Zerbi replied: "Yes, because he is very fast. At the end of the session I spoke with Mitoma.
"I ask him, 'how are you?' I said, 'listen, we have to improve in some situations of the football'. He said, 'okay coach'. I said, 'yes but we have a lot of time this year and next year!'"
Then, with a wry smile, De Zerbi looked around the room at the journalists present and said: "Okay. But do you understand? 'Yes. Yes, I understand,' he said."
The Brighton boss then laughed and looked at Paul Barber, the club's chief executive, who smiled in agreement and patted the Italian on the shoulder, suggesting that Mitoma will not be leaving anytime soon. Speaking on The Beautiful Game podcast last month, Barber admitted that he's ready to fend off offers for the £50million-rated winger in the summer.
"Obviously he's [Mitoma] another player that will be in the spotlight in the next transfer window," said the Brighton chief. "We're ready for that and we understand that, we just hope he can have a great second half of the season. We're very fortunate from a financial point of view that we're not a club that has to sell players to survive."