When former France international Youri Djorkaeff signed for Inter, he surprised a few people by living in an apartment amid the hustle and bustle of Milan rather than a gated mansion out of town.

He said he wanted to feel the heartbeat of the city rather than distancing himself from it.

Roberto De Zerbi did something in a similar vein on Thursday morning as he plotted a first European win for Albion.

And it has now become the stuff of legend, thanks to a close friend.

With De Zerbi’s permission, former player Lele Adani published a voice note sent to him by the head coach while walking in Brighton on Thursday.

The language was a lot more colourful than we ever hear in press conferences and the message was clear.

A cleaned up version read: “My friend, I was walking around town. How nice is it to see the children with scarves, shirts, already waiting for our match?

“I felt goosebumps, unbelievable. How can you miss a tackle, play badly, not try a dribble if you think about these children who dream of that moment?

“Football is incredible. I’m 44 years old and I’m still in this state!

“Just a few people can understand it.”

So, as De Zerbi came into his Friday press conference yesterday lunchtime after three strong coffees and feeling slightly weary from the Ajax game, it was a perfect time to ask him about his walk the previous morning.

“He had my permission!” De Zerbi stressed as the question was being asked.

“Lele Adani is my big friend and yesterday morning it was true.

“We felt the atmosphere in this moment from our fans. It is a big, big motivation for us.

“We know we are doing something historic for the club, for the city.

“For it we have a big, big motivation to follow in this way, to play with this quality, this pride, because we are writing the new history and it’s magic for us.”

De Zerbi was asked whether he had passed on what he had seen, and those emotions, to the players before they faced Ajax.

He said: “No, but I am used to talking about these things.

“Football is not only 4-4-2 or tactical disposition.

“First of all, you have to transmit the emotion.

“I think we are spending a great moment in Brighton, about emotion.

“Every game is a new emotion and we are lucky to spend this moment in this club.”

De Zerbi speaks about passion a lot and is keen for players and fans to respond.

He wants to get the whole city moving with him.

One of his quotes in the press conference soon after the game was quickly picked up on social media.

He said the win over Ajax was “for Brighton, for our fans, for our club, for our owner, for ourselves”.

Having seen how that sentiment was appreciated when I reported his reply, I changed the headline on our piece at theargus.co.uk and just used his words.

When passion is mentioned, it can be too tempting to compare De Zerbi with his predecessor.

That is probably unfair. To take your young family to the frozen wastes of Sweden in pursuit of a professional goal, to stick with a playing style when results aren’t coming, to make tough decisions over popular players, all takes passion for what you are doing.

There are just different ways of (not) showing it.

But De Zerbi sees how it can be used as an energy and, while what he does is no doubt natural and instinctive, it is the sort of passion fans can latch on to more easily.

Listening to De Zerbi during this hectic period, one thinks back to something said by Adam Lallana during an interview last season.

He felt one of the best aspects of the 3-0 win over his old club Liverpool was having time to enjoy it.

That is not the case now. It wasn’t the case when Alexis Mac Allister fired home his penalty to beat Manchester United.

It wasn’t after the two previous European games.

And it won’t be this weekend, much as we might like to wallow in the first European win.

De Zerbi, it feels, has been treading a fine line.

He wants to move on but he also wants to enjoy Ajax to the max.

It meant a lot to him to secure that first UEFA success with the Seagulls.

A reporter from Sky Italia asked him late on Thursday evening why the win made him especially proud.

He replied: “I am very proud of what we have achieved. It is the first time we won in the Europa League and especially against Ajax, which is a very big club.

“A club which, by definition, exported football to all the world, all of Europe.

“Although they are going through a tough time, they are still Ajax.

“A club which taught all of Europe how to play football and for us to win against that club playing football, which is what they taught us all how to do, is a big, big evening for us.

“All the more because we came up from playing lower leagues.”

Now, on the Friday lunchtime after the European win before, he told us: “I am really, really proud and happy for the result.

“The 26th of October is a historic day for us, for Brighton, but we have turned the page to think only of the (Fulham) game.”

Albion passed that test to a degree against Liverpool in a way they didn’t last season against Everton (a few days after beating United).

The fans probably won’t be out dancing in the street if the Seagulls follow their first win in Europe with a first Prem victory over Fulham.

But it will be another hurdle cleared and De Zerbi will know what it means.