My guess is that he thinks there is a deficiency in Baleba’s game that he can fix with coaching. It would seem odd for him to say he’s going to be a great premier league player if he’s written him off.
From the club website two days ago:
RDZ “We have only one playmaker in our squad who is Billy, but I think Baleba has that quality but he’s very young. He is new in Brighton and didn’t play many games since arriving last summer, but for sure he can become one of the best Premier League players...