Chelsea are looking for their third manager of the season following the sacking of manager Graham Potter less than seven months after signing a five-year contract in September. Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa proved to be the final straw, with the club’s owners deciding to change managers for the second time this season.
Bruno Saltor will take over as interim head coach after the 13th sacking of the Premier League season. The Chelsea owners are now embarking on their second search for a new manager within seven months after sacking Thomas Tuchel in September.
Chelsea’s ownership has spent £600 million since taking over the club last summer, but Saturday’s home defeat dropped them to the bottom half of the league and 12 points off the all-important Champions League qualifiers. Follow all the latest from Stamford Bridge, including expert insight from Chelsea correspondent Nizaar Kinsella.
Live updates
Why Chelsea’s owners decided Potter had to go
In the end, the Chelsea owners felt they had no choice but to forego the man they had chosen to lead their new era at Stamford Bridge.
Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali indicated they wanted to break with the hire-and-fire culture under Roman Abramovich by handing Graham Potter a five-year contract when he was appointed in September.
They gave a £12 million a year deal to someone Boehly said “fits our vision”, promising to support him through a rebuild they felt would most likely be painful.
Boehly and Eghbali do not believe that lasting success comes from frequent head coach changes. They had resisted calls to fire Potter in recent weeks and wanted to give him time to change the situation.
But they couldn’t wait for him to get right and growing behind-the-scenes concerns have led to another ruthless dismissal from Chelsea.
Read here why Chelsea’s owners decided that Potter had to go.
Potter assistant leaves
Billy Reid has left Chelsea with Graham Potter, reports Nizaar Kinsella.
Assistant coach Bjorn Hamberg and Kyle Macaulay from the recruiting team are still with the club with Bruno Saltor.
Nagelsmann wants a job at Chelsea, but there’s a catch
Julian Nagelsmann is interested in the job at Chelsea after Graham Potter was sacked. reports Nizaar Kinsella.
Nagelsmann is out of work following his departure from Bayern Munich last month and the 35-year-old German is a leading candidate to take over at Stamford Bridge.
There has been no contact between Nagelsmann and Chelsea at this stage.
While it is clear that Nagelsmann is eager to join Chelsea, it is not clear if he wants a proper break before considering offers.
It’s clear he’s eager to wait until summer before deciding on his next move.
What was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s reaction to Graham Potter’s firing?
Well, he “liked” the official announcement. Could mean something, probably means nothing.
Nagelsmann ‘little to take a job now’
Chelsea have a lot of work to do to convince Julian Nagelsmann to become their news manager before the end of the current season.
Graham Potter’s dismal tenure was ended on Sunday, less than seven months into a five-year deal, as the Blues hierarchy struggled to salvage a difficult season. Todd Boehly reportedly wants Potter’s permanent replacement for the Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid in 10 days.
Nagelsmann has already emerged as the front-runner to succeed Potter, but is currently on vacation and, according to Gianluca Di Marzio, would prefer to wait until the summer before starting his next job.
Chelsea told the team about Graham Potter’s sacking, while the rest of the world also found out through the press release, Nizaar Kinsella reports.
The reason is to help prevent early leaks, which seems to have worked as Chelsea were the first to break the news, which is uncommon these days.
On Wednesday, all focus will now certainly be on Liverpool. A big clash has only gotten bigger.
Jamie Carragher is not impressed – or surprised!
Chelsea have no direct successor in line to replace Graham Potter, unlike when Thomas Tuchel got the boot.
Recently sacked former Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann, 35, is among the front-runners to be appointed in West London. He has a connection to the new regime through sporting director Christopher Vivell, with whom he worked at RB Leipzig.
Who is Bruno Saltor?
Bruno Saltor has been appointed interim Chelsea head coach following the departure of Graham Potter.
Potter was sacked after Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa and Bruno will take charge of the team for Tuesday’s Premier League game at home to Liverpool.
Bruno joined Chelsea when he moved to Stamford Bridge from Brighton with Potter last September.
The Spaniard is a Brighton legend, having made 235 appearances over a decade with the south coast club.
Graham Potter had less than seven months on a five-year contract, but he will not be paid the full contract, he reports Nizar Kinsella.
However, he will still owe a significant fee. More property expenses.