Chelsea sack Graham Potter as manager after less than seven months in charge

Exit follows Saturday's Premier League defeat to Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea manager Graham Potter has been sacked by the club following the 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, April 1, 2023. AP

Graham Potter has been sacked as Chelsea manager after less than seven months in charge, the Premier League club announced on Sunday night.

Potter replaced Champions League-winning manager Thomas Tuchel last September after being identified by new Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly as the coach to lead the club's new long-term project. However, after an encouraging start in which he led Chelsea to six wins and three draws in his opening nine games in charge, results have sharply declined.

The Blues have slipped into the bottom half of the Premier League with a 2-0 home loss by Aston Villa on Saturday - their 10th league defeat of the season - to sit 12 points behind the top four. The one bright spot of Potter's short reign has been Chelsea's form in the Champions League, where they defeated Italian champions AC Milan home and away in the group stages and eliminated Borussia Dortmund in the Round of 16.

"Chelsea FC has announced that Graham Potter has departed the club. Graham has agreed to collaborate with the Club to facilitate a smooth transition," the club announced in a statement. "In his time with the club, Graham has taken us to the quarter final of the Champions League, where we will face Real Madrid. Chelsea would like to thank Graham for all his efforts and contribution and wish him well for the future."

Potter's assistant Bruno Saltor has taken interim charge of the Chelsea first team as the club begin their search for a permanent manager.

"On behalf of everyone at the club, we want to thank Graham sincerely for his contribution to Chelsea," co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali said in a joint statement. "We have the highest degree of respect for Graham as a coach and as a person. He has always conducted himself with professionalism and integrity and we are all disappointed in this outcome.

"Along with our incredible fans, we will all be getting behind Bruno and the team as we focus on the rest of the season. We have 10 Premier League games remaining and a Champions League quarter final ahead. We will put every effort and commitment into every one of those games so that we can end the season on a high."

Since being taken over by Boehly and Clearlake Capital last summer, Chelsea have embarked on a remarkable spending spree to overhaul the squad, spending around £500 million of 15 new players. While integrating so many new players into the squad was always going to be a challenge for Potter, ultimately results have not been god enough.

It will now be the task of Potter's permanent replacement to shape the squad into the title challengers the owners expect from such an outlay. Several out-of-work managers are being linked with the vacancy, including recent Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann, former Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain manager Mauricio Pochettino, and former Spain and Barcelona coach Luis Enrique.

Chelsea v Aston Villa - player ratings