'Looking for next one' – Paul Barber makes surprise manager statement on Sky Sports weeks after appointing Roberto De Zerbi

Barber and chairman Tony Bloom acted swiftly to appoint Roberto De Zerbi after Graham Potter’s unexpected exit to Chelsea last month.

The club had been preparing to lose Potter to one of the football giants – or possibly even the England role – but it was timing of his exit that caught many by surprise.

De Zerbi was little known to many in the Premier League but the Italian had been doing impressive work in Serie A with Sassuolo and then in Ukraine with Shakhtar Donetsk.

It was enough to catch the attention of Barber and Bloom who were impressed with his style of play and his ability to get the best from players on a limited budget.

De Zerbi made a lively start to life at Brighton with a 3-3 draw at Liverpool and followed that with a narrow 1-0 loss to Tottenham at the Amex Stadium last weekend.

"It sounds strange but almost as soon as new manger comes in we are looking for the next one,” said Barber Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of Albion’s Friday night clash at Brentford.

“Such is football and such is the nature of it. We did not expect to lose Graham when we did and we put a lot of work into the type of manager we wanted to replace him.

"We are looking at the style of play of coaches all over Europe. What resources they are working with and what results they are getting from those resources.

"We then form a shortlist and that shortlist becomes very important at a time just recently when Graham left us.”