Chelsea have reached a verbal agreement with Brighton manager Graham Potter to replace Thomas Tuchel as their next head coach.
Six games into the new Premier League season and following Chelsea’s 1-0 Champions League loss to Dinamo Zagreb, Tuchel was sacked on Wednesday.
On Wednesday afternoon in central London, Chelsea owner Todd Boehly met with Brighton manager Gary Potter for what were characterized as “positive talks” about the manager’s future role at Stamford Bridge and the club’s aspirations to expand the entire football business.
The focus of those conversations early on Thursday morning centered on the legal specifics of his contract and Potter’s backroom personnel.
Both parties have verbally agreed to the 47-year-old taking over at Stamford Bridge, albeit no contracts have yet been exchanged.
Chelsea made it clear that they were willing to pay Potter’s exit clause amount set by Brighton.
Chelsea was also interested in Sporting in Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim, as well as the unattached Mauricio Pochettino and Zinedine Zidane.
Following his takeover in the summer, Potter will be the first managerial appointment of the Boehly era. In a thorough reorganization of Roman Abramovich’s trusted personnel, the American is still serving as sporting director after replacing director Marina Granovskaia, chairman Bruce Buck, and technical and performance advisor Petr Cech.