GRAHAM POTTER may just be regretting his move to Chelsea.
The under-fire boss, 47, gave up a Brighton side on the rise to move to Stamford Bridge.
With superstar players and promise of a staggering transfer kitty for years to come under the new ownership of Todd Boehly, it’s easy to see why.
Just five months after replacing Thomas Tuchel – a surprise sacking in September – the cracks are already starting to show.
Following a 1-0 defeat at home to bottom-of-the-table Southampton last weekend, Chelsea sit 10th in the Premier League.
Incredibly, the Blues have won just ONE of 10 matches in 2023 – with Potter now the unfortunate owner of the club’s worst record in Premier League history.
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They’re miles off the pace domestically, are out of the FA Cup after a 4-0 mauling at the hands of Manchester City and are on the brink of elimination from the Champions League.
Chelsea are believed to be sticking by their manager.
Having seen Mikel Arteta thrive at Arsenal after a shocking start, the Stamford Bridge hierarchy are coming around to “Trusting the Process”.
A far cry from the swinging axe of the Roman Abramovich era.
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But, should Potter force their hand with further poor results, Boehly may need to take action – especially with a huge section of fans turning on him.
And these could be the five names in the running should Chelsea need a new boss…
THOMAS TUCHEL
Fans desperately want the German back.
He won Chelsea the Champions League in 2021, led them to back-to-back FA Cup finals and the Carabao Cup final in 2022.
Tuchel was surprisingly given the boot in September of this season, replaced by Potter.
But the Blues would face competition for him – with another former club, Paris Saint-Germain, believed to be keen on him.
Tuchel was sacked on December 24, 2020 – not very Christmassy of them – amid a poor run of form by the Champions League title-chasing club’s standards.
But with current chief Christophe Galtier struggling, it’s believed the French capital giants want their old boss back.
ROBERTO DE ZERBI
They’ve raided Brighton once… why not try again?
De Zerbi has continued to work wonders at the Seagulls, helping them to seventh in the Premier League – which could be sixth if they win their games in hand over Fulham.
Brighton are continually raided for their best players – including struggling Chelsea new-boy Marc Cucurella.
And yet they keep exceeding expectations with their strong play.
There’s little wonder why the Blues would be keen on the former Shakhtar Donetsk boss.
Tottenham, Roma, Inter Milan, Juventus and AC Milan are all also believed to be keen, though – so Chelsea may not have the luxury of waiting.
MAURICIO POCHETTINO
A move to former London rivals for ex-Tottenham boss Pochettino?
Seemingly unthinkable… and yet recent reports claim Chelsea made an approach as a “Plan B” in case Potter was axed.
It’s believed Poch rejected the offer.
But having been out of the game since his PSG axe in 2022 and out of the Premier League since leaving Spurs in 2019, the temptation to return to the English top flight could be too much.
Not to mention the promise of a substantial transfer budget he was denied at Tottenham for five years…
ZINEDINE ZIDANE
The France legend enjoyed an outrageous amount of success at Real Madrid across two stints – 2016-18 and 2019-21.
Zidane won two LaLiga titles and three Champions League crowns as manager of Los Blancos.
But he’s been out of work for nearly two years now.
It’s claimed Zidane wanted the France job and had kept his options open waiting to see if Didier Deschamps would be relieved of his duties.
Despite failing to retain his World Cup crown, Deschamps remains.
PSG are also believed to be keen on Zidane, but with the France job out of the equation, the former superstar midfielder could be tempted to West London.
JOSE MOURINHO
Could the Special One grace Stamford Bridge for a third stint?
Mourinho won three Premier League titles across his first two spells and has always been popular with fans, despite occasional controversies.
The Portuguese legend is believed to be unhappy at Roma.
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And having missed out on the Portugal job – reportedly rejecting the chance to replace Fernando Santos after the World Cup – he could decide to take over from Potter at the Blues.
With all this talk of former managers returning, should someone check on retired interim legend Guus Hiddink?
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
