Chelsea 'confident' Graham Potter in charge by weekend as Brighton boss 'wants' to move

Chelsea are hoping Graham Potter will be appointed manager in time to take charge of Saturday's Premier League trip to Fulham.

Chelsea's new owners are said to be confident of selling their long-term vision of Stamford Bridge to the much-loved Seagulls boss, according to the PA news agency.

READ MORE: Chelsea could be a snake pit for managers, but Graham Potter should step in anyway

The Blues were due to meet Potter for talks over the vacant managerial post on Wednesday afternoon, having sacked Thomas Tuchel earlier in the day.

It seems Brighton have given Chelsea permission to speak with Potter, as the 47-year-old is believed to like a change.

Blues bosses Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali are reportedly looking for a manager to stay at Stamford Bridge for the long term.

Potter has a hefty indemnity clause in his contract with Brighton, but the Chelsea owners are said to be more flexible about paying the buyout fee.

Chelsea sacked charismatic manager Tuchel on Wednesday morning, just hours after the Blues' 1-0 Champions League loss to Dinamo Zagreb.

The club's owners have already taken the decision to overthrow Tuchel before this defeat in Croatia.

Boehly and Eghbali have been at the helm of Stamford Bridge for 100 days since their £4.25 billion purchase from Roman Abramovich.

The ambitious American owners reportedly felt they couldn't wait any longer to make the move, fearing the Blues could lose further ground to Premier League champions Manchester City.

The Chelsea board have reportedly analyzed Tuchel's 100 games as Blues boss, identifying a worrying trend of 24 goals conceded in the first 50 games and 53 in the second half-century.

Boehly and Eghbali will approach and interview a small number of candidates, with Chief Potter from Brighton among a select group of names.

Former Tottenham and Paris St Germain manager Mauricio Pochettino and former Real Madrid chief Zinedine Zidane would also be considered.

Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard as Chelsea boss in January 2021 and steered the club to their second Champions League triumph four months later, with a stunning 1-0 victory over Manchester City at Porto.

The Blues' confidence and threat slowly waned at the end of last season, however, with the disappointing £98m signing of Romelu Lukaku and eventually returning to Inter Milan on loan for this term.

p>

Tuchel guided Chelsea through the troubled waters of British government sanctions amid the fallout from the Russian war in Ukraine.

The 49-year-old kept the Chelsea show on the road while Abramovich staged a quick sale, with Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Boehly ultimately winning a very public run.

Chelsea's new owners would have been desperate for Tuchel's tenure to continue as a success, but a growing core of problems left them feeling the only option was to make a change.

Boehly and Behdad reportedly felt that Tuchel had gone astray tactically, struggling to get the best out of the players.

New chairman Boehly has acted as interim sporting director since taking charge of Chelsea, and Tuchel has had a huge influence on the Blues' summer transfer policy.

The Blues have spent a record £273million to overhaul the squad, but further work is expected to follow in January.

Chelsea have since slipped to three defeats in seven games at the start of the new campaign, with changing tactics from Tuchel and his increasingly temperamental behaviour.

Tuchel's relationship with Chelsea players had grown increasingly strained, while communication with the Blues' new owners proved awkward during another turbulent summer.