Chelsea are in a race against time to secure the services of their new coach after the sacking of Thomas Tuchel.
Chelsea are in a race against time to appoint a new technical director to succeed German Thomas Tuchel, who was sacked on Wednesday morning.
The Chelsea administration, headed by American Todd Boley, the new owner of the London club, has appointed Brighton coach Graham Potter to be Tuchel’s successor in training the team.
What is the update on the new Chelsea coach?
The English newspaper “Daily Mail” confirmed that Chelsea obtained permission from Brighton to negotiate officially with Graham Potter, in an attempt to obtain his services.
The English journalist indicated that Potter is Chelsea’s first target to replace Tuchel, and that the young coach is completely open to the idea of taking over technical leadership at Stamford Bridge and that reaching an agreement on his joining Chelsea will be easy.
In fact, and if all goes well, Potter could sit on the bench when Chelsea visit Fulham next Saturday, in the seventh round of the English Premier League.
The sources indicated that Potter is seriously considering leaving Brighton in order to move to Chelsea and compete in the Champions League.
The report indicated that Potter’s contract with Brighton includes a release clause of 13.8 million euros, which means that Brighton does not have the fate of his coach if Chelsea decides to pay this amount.
The penalty clause includes the release of the majority of Potter’s technical staff in Brighton, and, according to the Telegraph, Potter plans to take three members of his crew to Stamford Bridge if he actually gets the job.
Who are the potential replacements?
If Chelsea fails to sign Potter, they will turn their attention to Argentine Mauricio Pochettino.
Currently, Pochettino is not linked to any other club after leaving Paris Saint-Germain earlier this summer, which means he could join Chelsea without paying anything.
Understandably, Pochettino is aware of Chelsea’s interest in him, but Potter’s emergence as the club’s favorite will have the Argentine waiting a bit.
Meanwhile, former Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane will be of interest to Chelsea’s management, although he is seriously considering taking over the coaching job of his country after the 2022 World Cup.