Chelsea given permission to speak to Graham Potter as Brighton boss set for talks

Chelsea have made a formal approach to speak to Graham Potter and Brighton have given permission for them to hold talks with their manager.

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Thomas Tuchel was sacked as Chelsea manager on Wednesday morning after a disappointing start to the season and a shock defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

The Blues have moved very quickly to replace the German, with Potter emerging as an early favourite to take over as manager at Stamford Bridge.

Sky Sports report that just a couple of hours after Tuchel was dismissed, Chelsea approached Brighton to ask if they could speak to Potter and the Seagulls have granted them permission.

That suggests that Chelsea have agreed to meet the release clause in Potter’s contract with Brighton, which reportedly stands at £16m.

Potter will now travel to London to hold talks with the Chelsea hierarchy, including chairman Todd Boehly and other executives.

More to follow…

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