Bernardo believes he will be suited by the flexibility of new Albion boss Graham Potter.

The Brazilian finds himself in new territory - playing for a club when the man in charge has changed.

That has never happened before in the career of Bernardo, who shared left-back duties with Gaetan Bong in his debut season with the Seagulls after signing last summer from Red Bull Leipzig when Chris Hughton was manager.

"No, this is the first time," Bernardo told The Argus. "Since it happened at the end of the season I think the change is more smooth. Now we are starting the season, so we need to get a fit and we also have a lot of time to prepare ourselves and adapt ourselves to a new mentality.

"If it had been in the middle of the season then I think it would be a big shock.

"But it's the first time it's happened to me, a change of manager while I'm at a club. This is different but we need to get used to it.

"We have just a few more weeks to prepare ourselves and we need to be open-minded, to understand a new idea of playing football and try to translate that on the pitch.

"But I'm quite excited, quite positive. I think it's a really nice style of playing football.

"Now we are at a moment where we are just trying to understand the possibilities that we have.

"We are having a lot of experiments, like changes of formations, trying certain players in positions, maybe playing with three at the back, sometimes four, sometimes five in midfield, sometimes four.

"So I like it a lot because my whole career I've played in different positions. In Salzburg I was playing as a midfielder, at Leipzig right-back, here left-back, but in the youth team I was a central defender.

"I like to play in different positions. I think it gives more value for myself, when you are always changing systems during the match. I think it brings more value for me as a player when the trainer actually uses you in many different positions.

"So for me it's been nice. I also like to risk a bit more. I think that's how we might be, a bit more offensive. Let's see how things go."

The Argus: Although a change of manager while at a club is a new experience for Bernardo (above right), the 24-year-old is on familiar ground for the training camp in Austria, where he played for Red Bull Salzburg before switching to Leipzig in the German Bundesliga.

"I lived here for seven or eight months when I played for Salzburg," Bernardo said. "My girlfriend is Austrian as well and her parents also live in Austria.

"Almost every pre-season I have done until now has been in Austria.

"It is very familiar territory. For me it was a very important step in my career, I think it was a step that definitely changed my career.

"Salzburg gave me the possibility to play for qualification to the Champions League and to be champions and then to move to Leipzig and play on a very high level, so I am very grateful I had the chance to play here.

"I also did a good job, because after seven months I went to the Bundesliga, but I am really grateful and it was a really nice time in my life and my career."

Albion end the week in the Alpine country with their opening pre-season friendly on Saturday against second division side FC Liefering, one of Bernardo's former clbs and the feeder club to Salzburg.

"For the first months I couldn't be registered for Salzburg, so they registered me for Liefering," Bernardo said. "I even played a game for them, an official game in the second division.

"Liefering are a very good team. Salzburg have a very specific way to play football, always pressing. They have a really good scout system, they can really find 16 or 17 year olds from all around the globe and get them pressing at high speed. They are really difficult opponents.

"I know many people haven't heard about Leifering, but most of the players that have played for Salzburg have already played for Liefering, so I am sure they have some really good, young talent."

The match against Liefering launches what Bernardo hopes will be another step forward after awarding himself six-and-a-half out of ten for his first season in England.

"If you consider that five is average, I think it was a bit better than average, but I see a lot of room for improvement," he said.

"The first season was to adapt myself and understand what I have to do, how the league works. This season I think I can show even more, so that's why it's six-and-a-half."