EPL club, Chelsea confirm Graham Potter as new manager
English Premier League (EPL) giants, Chelsea FC have confirmed the appointment of Brighton & Hove Albion coach, Englishman Graham Potter as their new manager, Thursday.
The confirmation of Potter came barely hours after the sacking of the side’s Champions League winning manager, Thomas Tuchel on Wednesday.
A statement confirming the development was also issued by the club, which read: “Chelsea Football Club is delighted to welcome Graham Potter as our new Head Coach, joining us on a five-year contract to bring his progressive football and innovative coaching to the Club.”
On Wednesday, Chelsea sacked their Champions League winning manager, Thomas Tuchel following the club’s lacklustre performance in both leagues, this season.
The sacking also follows Chelsea’s loss by 0:1 at Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.
The sacking took place face-to-face with the owners, Wednesday morning, at the club’s Cobham training ground and Tuchel’s three coaches; Arno Michels, Zsolt Löw and Benjamin Weber, are expected to depart.
The London club also reportedly approached Brighton & Hove Albion for permission to speak to their manager, Graham Potter, same day, Wednesday.
Potter was said to be Chelsea’s first choice but Mauricio Pochettino and Zinedine Zidane, both of whom are out of work, are also on their shortlist.
Potter has a release clause which is believed to decrease each year and is currently about £16m.
Tuchel’s sack follows a disappointing start to the season, with the club having also been beaten by Leeds and Southampton in the Premier League, and has been on the cards after Tuchel’s relationship with the co-owner Todd Boehly unravelled during a chaotic summer transfer window. The pair had all but stopped communicating.
Chelsea have spent a record £266m in this transfer window to bring in Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella, Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Carney Chukwuemeka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang among others. That increased the pressure on Tuchel but not all were his signings and there were other instances of the ownership attempting to foist players on him.
“On behalf of everyone at Chelsea FC, the club would like to place on record its gratitude to Thomas and his staff for all their efforts during their time with the club.
“Thomas will rightly have a place in Chelsea’s history after winning the Champions League, the Super Cup and Club World Cup in his time here.
“As the new ownership group reaches 100 days since taking over the club, and as it continues its hard work to take the club forward, the new owners believe it is the right time to make this transition.
“Chelsea’s coaching staff will take charge of the team for training and the preparation of our upcoming matches as the club moves swiftly to appoint a new head coach,” the cluib’s statement confirming the sack read, Wednesday.
Tuchel took over from Frank Lampard in January 2021 and won the Champions League four months later. An anticipated Premier League title challenge the following season failed to materialise, with Romelu Lukaku’s club record arrival not bringing the desired impact, but the campaign was significantly complicated by the situation surrounding Roman Abramovich’s ownership. Tuchel led the team to the FA Cup and Carabao Cup finals but lost both to Liverpool on penalties.
UPDATED: Potter becomes third highest-earning Manager in EPL
Graham Potter has been formally handed a long-term five-year contract by Chelsea.
However, what’s more telling is that his contract is worth £60m – that translated to £12m-a-year.
Such a bumper deal will see the Englishman become one of the highest-paid managers in the Premier League.
Presently, Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola is the highest-paid manager in England bagging £15m-per-year at Man City, while Jurgen Klopp earns around £12m-per-year at Liverpool.
Both managers are recent English Premier League (EPL) winners, unlike Potter.
