By Victor Kanayo
Chelsea have announced the appointment of former Brighton Manager Graham Potter as their new Head Coach.
According to the club, Potter has signed a five-year deal and will take charge of Saturday’s trip to Fulham after agreeing to succeed Thomas Tuchel.
Before then, Potter will take charge of Chelsea’s training for the first time on Friday.
Reacting via Chelsea official website, Potter said, “I am incredibly proud and excited to represent Chelsea FC, this fantastic football club.”
“I am very excited to partner with Chelsea’s new ownership group and look forward to meeting and working with the exciting group of players and to develop a team and culture that our amazing fans can be proud of.
“I would also like to place my sincere thanks to Brighton & Hove Albion for allowing me this opportunity and in particular Tony Bloom and all the players, staff and supporters for their continued support during my time at the club.”
Chelsea moved swiftly to land Potter after calling time on Tuchel’s reign on Wednesday morning.
Potter quickly emerged as Chelsea’s clear first choice with former Tottenham Manager Mauricio Pochettino and Real Madrid former Coach Zinedine Zidane among the managers also considered.
The speed at which the process moved, though, convinced some at Brighton of that fact and that Potter had been in Chelsea’s sights for some time.
Potter impressed in talks with co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali on Wednesday having been given permission to talk to Chelsea earlier in the day after they agreed to pay his £15m release clause.
And negotiations were finalised on Thursday to make the 47 year-old the first managerial appointment of Chelsea’s Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital era.
Potter is expected to bring a number of members of his Brighton staff with him to Stamford Bridge, including coaches Bjorn Hamberg and Billy Reid plus assistant recruitment chief Kyle Macaulay.
After saying his farewells at Brighton’s training ground, players and staff were left saddened by his departure on Thursday morning as he arrived at Chelsea in the afternoon.
Potter was appointed Brighton head coach in May 2019 after they finished that season 17th.
He has led them to 15th, 16th and ninth place finishes and leaves them in fourth place, having introduced an eye-catching style of play and in a healthy financial position after improving a string of players to the extent that the Seagulls have been able to bank significant sums for them.
He will be reunited with one of them at Chelsea in left-back Marc Cucurella who moved to London after a year under Potter at Brighton in a deal worth up to £62m last month.
Yves Bissouma, Dan Burn and Ben White are among others that have moved on for big profit after flourishing under Potter.
Potter has received assurances that he will be given the time to make things work at Chelsea in line with the contract that runs until 2027.
Chelsea are sixth in the Premier League and have made a miserable start to their Champions League campaign, with Tuchel disposed of hours after their humbling 1-0 loss to Dinamo Zagreb, his 100th match in charge on Tuesday evening.
