Brighton chief reveals shock at Chelsea approaching Graham Potter ‘literally within minutes’ of sacking Thomas Tuchel
BRIGHTON CEO Paul Barber has revealed that Chelsea approached him about appointing Graham Potter just minutes after they sacked Thomas Tuchel.
The Seagulls chief has opened up about the shock phone call he received from Blues owner Todd Boehly in October.
He was informed of the surprise news that Tuchel had been dismissed as Chelsea manager and that they wanted Potter to leave Brighton and replace him.
Barber told the : "I think they [Chelsea] had done their homework.
"We probably felt that most of the top six clubs were fairly settled with their managers for the season. Generally speaking, we felt that there was going to be some consistency.
"What we didn't expect to happen, obviously, was for Chelsea's new owners to decide Tuchel wasn't for them and there to suddenly be a gap there.
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"Literally within minutes of Tuchel being told, Boehly called me and asked about Graham.
"I guess I was probably the first to know outside of Chelsea that Tuchel had been dismissed and it was certainly before it was public knowledge.
"In that situation you see the name come up on the phone, it's early in the morning, you think, 'This isn't a good call to get early in the morning', it certainly wasn't the alarm call I was expecting.
"These things happen and unfortunately in football, there's a very small pool of top coaches and a very small pool of clubs that they are likely to go to when one of those clubs has a vacancy.
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"Then all of a sudden you know you've got a very good person and coach and you know you are going to be vulnerable."
Barber went on to say the only role he thought may have come up for Potter was the England job.
But Chelsea got there man just a day after sacking Tuchel as they activated Potter's release clause.
Brighton had to find a new boss unexpectedly and opted for Roberto De Zerbi.
Despite the change in manager they have kept up their impressive start to the season and currently sit 7th in the Premier League table.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have had an up and down time under Potter with the club in 8th as we enter the World Cup hiatus.