Spurs target emerges as the favourite to replace Graham Potter at Chelsea

Graham Potter has been sacked as manager of Chelsea and Julian Nagelsmann is reportedly the leading candidate

According to Fabrizio Romano, German manager Julian Nagelsmann is the favourite to replace the recently departed Graham Potter as Chelsea manager.

Graham Potter, who was sacked on April 2nd, lasted just 31 games as manager of Chelsea when he replaced Thomas Tuchel in September 2022. The club sits 11th in the league despite outspending any other team in the world with the likes of Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudryk and Wesley Fofana joining the last couple of windows.

The club confirmed that Bruno Saltor, who was a part of Potter’s coaching staff, is set to become the interim manager. It is unconfirmed whether or not he will remain in charge for the rest of the season but for the time being he looks set to take over the next match against Liverpool. It is also not out of the realm of possibility that Bruno Saltor will be in charge for Chelsea’s match against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final on April 12th.

Julian Nagelsmann has been hailed as somewhat of a managerial prospect given he is just 35 years old, which is extremely young for a top manager. Nagelsmann retired very early on in his football career because of injuries and subsequently got into coaching.

Nagelsmann became manager of 1899 Hoffenheim at just 28 years old and in the course of 3 years at the club, he helped them both survive relegation and qualify for Champions League football. In the summer of 2019, he became the manager of RB Leipzig. In just two seasons with Leipzig, Nagelsmann had reached the semi-finals of the Champions League and was a runner-up in the DFB Pokal.

Nagelsmann appointed at Bayen in the summer of 2021 was seen as the German manager’s first chance to be favourites to win silverware. In his first season with Bayern, the rekordmeister won the Bundesliga title comfortably but was upset by Villareal in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Nagelsmann this season at Bayern is one of great confusion given the club had won 8 out of 8 games in the Champions League up until his sacking. Not only that but Nagelsmann had lost just 3 games all season but a significant amount of draws has pulled them into a title battle with Borussia Dortmund.

It will be interesting to see whether or not Nagelsmann will actually end up as Chelsea’s new manager. At Bayern, Nagelsmann typically played with a back four, with left back Alphonso Davies acting more as a wingback than a traditional left-sided defender. Wingers become very flexible under Nagelsmann with Bayern’s Leroy Sane often playing on both sides of the pitch.

Chelsea needs someone to come in and stop the bleeding. Julian Nagelsmann will have a massive task ahead of him, should he join.