The Cameroon midfielder was reported to have had a meeting with his head coach in which he pledged his commitment to the club and spoke about his playing time.
It felt like the sort of meeting which happens all the time – so, potentially, not untrue as such. But with a bit of spin applied,
But, equally, an addition to the noise to which Hurzeler referred when he spoke before the broadcast media on Friday morning.
Hurzeler spoke about noise intended to distract his player and said, while he had not seen it, he was pleased to hear about Baleba’s social media post saying he was feeling like his old self.
So what about this reported meeting, The Argus asked Hurzeler as a follow-up.
“I have a regular exchange with him, so I think almost every week I'm with him,” the head coach replied.
“I think it's just very important to be transparent with the players, to be honest, to share my thoughts to them, to understand their feelings, their thoughts, and to build like a trustful relationship.
“Therefore, I'm consistently in an exchange with him where we talk about different things but the main things is always about effort, about how he can improve, about our principles.
“Try to give him, on the one side, this psychological safety environment where he can be his own, where he can feel comfortable and where he can improve and continue working on his development.
“But also on the other side, making sure that he takes ownership and responsibility for his own development and that's where we try to talk to him on a daily basis.
“It’s not only myself, also my assistant coaches, my staff members are doing a great job with the players.
“Not only especially with Carlos, but I think with the young players to give them a good environment, a good psychological safety where they can where they can improve.
“I think is very important for young players, and that's we try to do here.”
That proverbial mix of kick up the backside or arm around the shoulder was perhaps reflected the day before the Newcastle game.
That was the day when Hurzeler changed his public tone on Baleba, telling him to take responsibility and get his act together.
After a good display against Newcastle, lasting most of the game and without a yellow card, the next test comes against the club who want him.
They were knocked back by Tony Bloom in the summer and it is clear he will be with the Seagulls until at least next summer.
But the unsettling tactics will not cease.
Hurzeler said: “It's also the next step for him as a person, for him as a personality, to overcome these rumours, to overcome this noise.
“Because, in the end, it's, it's only noise that tries to distract him from performing for us, for Brighton.
“He really has to focus on the things he can influence and he can't influence the rumours, he can't influence the noise around him.
“He can only influence the things he's doing on the pitch, how he asks for the ball, how he's positioned when he receives the ball, how good are his angles, how much effort he shows against the ball, how intense he can be against the ball.
“That's the main thing he needs to focus on. The rest is just noise.”