At his very first Middlesbrough press conference, Hellberg told of how the Italian is one of the coaches he's most inspired by, and there have been several other references before and since.
Hellberg might well come up against De Zerbi for the very first time next season, in the Premier League if both coaches can inspire upturns in the coming weeks or in the Championship if the campaign ends on a dud note for the dugout pair.
Both are fighting different battles right now, De Zerbi scrapping to keep Spurs afloat in the top flight, Hellberg searching for a solution to the issues that have cost his Boro side dear in recent weeks in the Championship promotion race.
From a coaching standpoint Hellberg needs to find a way to get his side scoring more goals, particularly at home, and while Boro are defending well on the whole, the coaching staff will be focused on tightening up at set-pieces and cutting out the individual errors that have meant the promotion chasers have kept just one clean sheet in five and two in nine.
But after admitting at the weekend that confidence has taken a hit following a six-game winless spell, this week and period will be a test of Hellberg the man manager as well as the coach.
For all Hellberg was pretty disgusted with the first half performance against Portsmouth on Saturday, once the dust settled he'll have no doubt pointed his players in the direction of all they've done well in recent weeks, the games they've dominated, even if they haven't managed to turn it into victories.
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Hellberg's side could - should - be on the verge of sealing promotion to the Premier League right now but instead are in a position where they must finish the campaign with wins - almost certainly four - and favours.
Does four straight wins feel likely right now after six games without a victory? Of course not.
But Hellberg will cling to something De Zerbi said this week in reference to his struggling Tottenham side, who are 14 without victory and in the Premier League's relegation zone with just six games to play.
"I am sure, if we are able to win a game, everything will change," said the Italian.
Confidence can so quickly be rediscovered, momentum so quickly gained. A win is powerful.
And for all the evidence of the recent weeks suggests Boro's race is run in terms of the automatic promotion battle, if - and clearly it's a big if - Hellberg's side can win at Ipswich on Sunday, the pendulum swings again.
How boosted Boro would be by not only severely denting their rivals but moving level on points with them.
Every bad run needs an end, every good run needs a start. Who'd have predicted after the desperately frustrating defeat at Derby on New Year's Day, a fourth successive game without scoring a goal, that Boro would have stuck four past Southampton next up and gone on a six-game winning charge.
Boro have spent 217 days in the Championship's top two this season, Ipswich less than 20. Yet it's the home side who might well feel under more pressure on Sunday.
If Millwall and Southampton both win on Saturday, Ipswich will find themselves out of the top two, below the former and level on points with the latter ahead of the game against Boro.
There's a different pressure that accompanies being the hunted rather than the hunter.
Boro desperately need a moment. The last promotion campaign was packed with them - Jordan Rhodes at Bolton, David Nugent at home to Hull, Adam Forshaw against Reading. The only thing that's come close this season is Delano Burgzorg's late winner at West Brom in January.
It's not necessarily too late. Sunderland's moment last season didn't come until the play-off semi final second leg against Coventry, when Dan Ballard thundered in his last gasp header. The Black Cats went into the play-offs having lost their last five games of the regular season.
But a moment and a win can, as De Zerbi says, "change everything". Hellberg will be hoping that's the case.