When Albion were first being linked with Adam Lallana, it was easy to be a bit doubtful.

Not over what he might offer - but that it could actually happen.

It seemed a bit fanciful. Lallana at Brighton, really?

Then we started getting a few clues that it was actually reality.

Three years into their Premier League adventure, the arrival of the England international and major trophy winner with Liverpool was a step towards helping Albion aim for bigger things than battling against the drop.

That will be his legacy at the club as he departs in the next few days.

Helping change the collective mentality, allowing for greater ambitions.

It has been a role played around the training ground as well as on the pitch, where he averages 26 appearances per season.

And he has seen that belief around him grow – that the club can take on, outplay and beat the best and that they can eye more than survival.

Lallana told The Argus: “I knew I had a completely different mindset to anyone else in the building.”

So how to transmit that to those around him?

“Being me, simple as that. I don’t know what that is.

“I fall in love with every manager I work under. They seem to like me back!

“You have just got to be who you are.

“It is all based on your experiences.

“I was lucky enough to be walking out of the Liverpool dressing room that was filled with monsters and winners. I was lucky enough I could bring that here.

“It is not just me and (Danny) Welbeck with a different mentality now within this group. There are ten, 11, 12.

“James Milner is here, do you know what I mean?

“I’m leaving and I know that the lads are sad about that.

“Team-mates don’t want me to leave but that’s the connection we have got.

“But it’s like, ‘Lads, you’re all right, you’re going to be fine’.

“I know Roberto (De Zerbi) doesn’t want me leaving because I’m probably a comfort blanket for him, having me around, managing sessions for him, doing things right.

“It’s like, ‘Roberto, you’ve got 15 more of them, literally’.

“The squad has grown and developed so much and I get peace out of that, that I’m leaving and the boys are all good.

“I feel like I accomplished what I came here to do, which was improve every year, try to be better and hopefully we can have success as a group and football club.

“I take enormous pride that I feel like I have contributed a little towards that.

“It’s a strange feeling, knowing that your last games are coming.

“I had this at Liverpool as well but Roberto has been brilliant with me.

“Hopefully we can pick up a couple of positive results.”

Lallana is keen to be closer to his family in the Bournemouth area – but has made close friendships during periods away from home.

He said: “It will be the people I miss the most here.

“You don’t really get bonds like this often in football.

“I have spent four years here without my wife and kids so I kind of substituted that, selfishly, for creating my own little family here in Brighton.

“For the first two years, I lived with Jason Steele, who helped me immensely.

“We had a lot of time together outside of here. Same with Pascal (Gross), Welbz (Welbeck).

“Welbz joined in the same time as me.

“Bruno was unbelievable for me, still is now. I spoke to Bruno about my decision.

“I have had to lean on a lot of people because I have been here on my own with some intense fixtures and programmes.”

But the main man is the boss.

Lallana sees De Zerbi as a tactical genius and said: “Probably the most difficult conversation was going in to see Roberto and telling him I had decided to move on and go home.

“The minute I said my family was at the forefront of my decision, he totally understood.

“I feel we have helped each other an awful lot in the two years and I am extremely grateful for how he has managed me.

“At times I can’t train every day and my body probably lets me down.

“But he has been so supportive of me and he has managed me different to most other players because of the history I have had with injuries and the age I’m at.

“I know as a footballer that doesn’t often happen because I’ve seen it.

“I think our relationship goes beyond just player and coach.

“He is like an older brother to me.

“The fact I know next season he is not going to coach me is extremely sad.

“I will be forever grateful and I’ve already said to him I’ll be expecting his door to always be open for me to come back.

“Not just the training ground but his house as well for a couple of Champions League nights or whatever.”