Todd Boehly in talks with Graham Potter to replace Tuchel at Chelsea

The Blues have been linked with many names in the last few hours but the leading candidate at this point appears to be Brighton manager, Graham Potter.

The English manager has reportedly been given permission to speak with Chelsea who are willing to pay Brighton a compensation fee to release Potter from his contract.

And with the deal looking likely to happen in the near future, it is time to examine and predict what Graham Potter would bring to Chelsea and how he would fare in West London.

Graham Potter pulse senegal

Is Potter an upgrade on Tuchel?

The whole point of firing and hiring is to upgrade on the previous manager, be it tactically,reputation-wise or other parameters.

If we’re going strictly by reputation, it would be extremely difficult for Chelsea to upgrade on Tuchel as there are only a handful of managers with a bigger reputation in world football right now and the majority of them (if not all) are currently employed by other teams.

In that regard, Graham Potter is not even close to Tuchel as his current gig at Brighton is the biggest he has ever had in his 11-year-old managerial career so far.

Thomas Tuchel AFP

There is no doubt Chelsea would be a massive step up for Potter but therein lies the rationale for the hire, Todd Boehly is looking to do things differently from his predecessor.

What has Potter done so far?

Since we’re ruling out ‘reputation’ from the reason Potter is close to landing the biggest gig of his career, let us look at why exactly he is the leading candidate ahead of more established options like Mauricio Pochettino.

Although cynics will say he never achieved anything, Potter has achieved quite a lot in relation to the targets before him.

Graha Potter is in line to be the next Chelsea manager AFP

In his first coaching gig, he took Ostersunds from the fourth tier of Swedish football in 2011 to the first division for the first time in their history in 2015.

Two years later he won the Swedish Cup and qualified for the Europa League but got knocked out by Arsenal on aggregate having beaten the Gunners 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium.

This Football Manager-Esque achievement earned him a move to English football, joining Swansea City in the Championship in 2018 but he wouldn’t even last a season there as Brighton came calling in May 2019.

Graham Potter has been a revelation at Brighton AFP

After helping Brighton escape relegation with little time to spare in the 2018/19 season, Potter did it all again in the two following seasons on a shoestring budget, finishing with 41 points on both occasions, the club record for top-flight points at the time.

But it was last season Potter really shone, as he led Brighton to a ninth-place finish, their highest in the Premier League with 51 points, the most in Brighton history.

And with how they have started this season with four wins out of six and only two points behind table-topping Arsenal, it is clear that Graham Potter knows how to punch well about his weight.

What would Potter bring to Chelsea?

As established, Porter has a knack for over-achieving and he does so by playing a distinctively beautiful brand of football which is one of the reasons Chelsea want him.

The biggest criticism of Tuchel’s Stamford Bridge reign was the poor quality of attack under him even when they were winning.

Thomas Tuchel Getty Images

It always felt like Tuchel could get more out of the vast attacking talent available to him and that is the hope for Graham Potter.

If he could make Ostersunds, Swansea and now Brighton play winning football and do so beautifully, imagine how much more he would do with Chelsea’s quality at his disposal.