Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi returned home and pledged his love for the Premier League team.

The Italian is set to take on Roma in his nation's capital city on Thursday in the Europa League.

While he is focused on Brighton and getting the best possible result, De Zerbi could not ignore speculation about his future.

Asked about an Italian return, De Zerbi admitted: “It's not true that I don't think about it.

"Usually I do what makes me happy and right now that's to be where I am. I am lucky to compete with this team at this level. It makes me happy when I win but even when we lose it is something special.

“One day I will come back to Italy. I don't know when that day will come. But when I made the choice two or three years ago to go to Shakhtar, I did it because I wanted to find a path outside Italy. Without going into too many details, there were some things in Italy I didn't like. I decided to do something else."