Potter ‘in talks’ for managerial return after Chelsea sacking
Robin Bairner
- 7 Sept 2023 07:55 BST
- 3 min read
Former Chelsea manager Graham Potter could find himself back in management soon after being sacked by the Stamford Bridge outfit in April.
Potter is being lined up by Ligue 1 side Lyon to take command of the club if Laurent Blanc is sacked, L’Equipe reports.
OL are presently bottom of France’s top flight, having managed just a single point in their opening four matches of the season. They have scored fewer goals than any other club while no club has conceded more.
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Blanc will be sacked by Lyon during the international break, having watched his side crumble to a 4-1 loss against PSG last Sunday, a match in which they were 4-0 down by half-time.
Lyon’s owner John Textor has been spotted at the club’s headquarters on Wednesday, with the belief that Blanc will be sacked imminently.
L’Equipe reports that Textor travelled from London, where he held talks with Potter on Tuesday.
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Potter heads three-man Lyon shortlist
Lyon have drawn up a three-man shortlist to replace Blanc. Ideally, they wanted former River Plate head coach Marcelo Gallardo, but the Argentine is not interested in the post at this time.
Potter heads a three-man list of foreign coaches and it is believed that he would be interested in this post. He had previously been sounded out to take charge of Nice in the summer, while there was also a suggestion that he could go to Strasbourg, who instead plumped for Patrick Vieira.
It is said that the opening talks went “very well” although OL are keeping their options open with two more contenders whose identities remain under wraps.
Potter, meanwhile, gained his reputation with Swansea and Brighton, who he led to ninth in the Premier League standings in the 2021/22 campaign.
When he moved to Chelsea to replace Thomas Tuchel in September 2022, it had been anticipated that he would be a success, yet he lasted less than a season, recording the worst points-per-game ratio of any Blues boss in recent history and was sacked before the campaign was out.
