Graham Potter has reportedly emerged as the frontrunner to become Leicester City’s new head coach shortly after being sacked by Chelsea.
The English tactician was relieved of his duties on Sunday (2 April) following his team’s 2-0 Premier League loss against Aston Villa. The Blues are languishing in 11th position with just 38 points from 28 games.
Leicester City also sacked Brendan Rodgers a couple of hours before news broke of the Blues severing ties with Potter. The Foxes are currently fighting a relegation battle and are 18th in the table with just one point from their last six league games.
As per the betting odds (h/t London World), Potter is 1/1 to replace Rodgers at the King Power Stadium. Former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez (5/1), Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou, Nigel Pearson, Steven Gerrard and Ralph Hassenhutl (all 12/1) are the other notable names on the list.
Rodgers was appointed by Leicester City in February 2019 and led the club to a fifth-placed finish in his first two full Premier League seasons. The Foxes, however, have been performing below par for the majority of the current campaign and risk being relegated to the Championship for the first time since 2004.
Chelsea, meanwhile, are having struggles of their own. They could miss out on UEFA Champions League football for next season despite spending a combined £566 million in two transfer windows. Bruno Saltor will be the club’s interim manager until they find a permanent replacement.
Julian Nagelsmann leading the race to become next Chelsea manager
Free agent Julian Nagelsmann is the leading candidate to become Chelsea’s new manager, as per transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.
The German coach was surprisingly sacked by Bayern Munich last month despite his team being in line for a potential quadruple. The Bavarian giants won the DFL-Supercup, lead the Bundesliga table by two points after 26 games, and are in the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal and UEFA Champions League.
Romano tweeted (h/t @FabrizioRomano):
“Julian Nagelsmann is the favorite candidate to replace Graham Potter as new Chelsea head coach, as reported yesterday. Nagelsmann was mentioned yesterday during internal discussions — Julian is considered a talented coach. Talks are ongoing to make best decision.”
Graham Potter lasted just a shade under seven months at the managerial helm at Chelsea. The former Brighton & Hove Albion manager did, however, ensure that the west London giants are still active in the Champions League, where they face Real Madrid in the quarter-final.
As for Nagelsmann, the 35-year-old won the Bundesliga title last season. He left the German giants having won three trophies in just under two years at the Allianz Arena.
