Chelsea dodge world-record pay out after Potter sacked

Robin Bairner

• 3 Apr 2023 08:42 BST
• 2 min read

Chelsea will not have to pay Graham Potter a world-record sum by way of a severance fee, according to reports.

It would have cost Chelsea around £50 million to buy Potter out of his contract, which still had more than five years remaining on it when he was sacked on Sunday, but according to The Athletic, the Blues have held talks with the former Brighton boss and have reached an agreement to avoid such a steep payment.

Instead, they will pay a regular severance package that isn’t determined by the remaining duration of his contract.

>MORE: Chelsea beat Man Utd to €20m signing after Potter sacking

Potter was sacked on Sunday following a 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa little more than 24 hours earlier that left his side in the lower half of the Premier League table. Indeed, the Englishman won only 12 of his 31 fixtures in charge of the Blues and suffered 11 defeats.

Although Chelsea had billed their project as being a long-term one, David Ornstein explained via 'The Athletic Briefing Show' that the manager had still come up short in the eyes of the board.

What is Graham Potter’s record at Chelsea?

“Although the Chelsea board always intended to judge Potter in years, not months or games, they always wanted to see progress, but that hasn’t been the case,” he said.

By the time the news of his departure came, it was welcome for many Blues fans, who had lost faith in his ability to turn the situation around.

Graham Potter: A costly mistake

Potter’s seven-month stay, meanwhile, was not cheap. The money Chelsea paid to Brighton to buy the manager out of his contract at the AmEx Stadium was already thought to be a world-record sum of £22m. Although the club has avoided the worst possible scenario with regards the manager’s pay off, he will likely still land a substantial fee.

Chelsea previously spent £25m to sack Antonio Conte in 2018, which was the previously the club’s biggest spend when losing a manager.