Antonio Conte and Mikel Arteta have both sent Todd Boehly a strong but objective Chelsea sacking message after Thomas Tuchel was dismissed on Wednesday morning.
It took the whole world by surprise, but at around 10 AM (BST), the new Blues owners showed they can be just as ruthless as their previous heirs as they wielded the axe on Tuchel's spell as Blues boss. Understandably, the decision came a few hours after a torrid night in the Champions League, but it is understood that things behind the scenes also deteriorated slowly for the German. A statement from the club reads: "Chelsea Football Club has today parted company with head coach Thomas Tuchel.
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"On behalf of everyone at Chelsea FC, the club would like to place on record its gratitude to Thomas and his staff for all their efforts during their time with the club. Thomas will rightly have a place in Chelsea's history after winning the Champions League, the Super Cup and Club World Cup in his time here. As the new ownership group reaches 100 days since taking over the club, and as it continues its hard work to take the club forward, the new owners believe it is the right time to make this transition.
"Chelsea's coaching staff will take charge of the team for training and the preparation of our upcoming matches as the club moves swiftly to appoint a new head coach.
"There will be no further comment until a new head coach appointment is made."
football.london understands that the players were not made aware of the timing of this announcement, so it even came as a surprise to the first-team squad. The squad, on the whole, wished Tuchel the best for whatever was to come next in his glittering career after the German coach only completed one full season as Head Coach and took part in two sectors of the 2020-21 campaign and the current 2022/23 one.
Erik ten Hag, David Moyes and Jürgen Klopp have all given their reaction since this news broke, but the two main rivals of Chelsea, in the form of London counterparts Arsenal and Tottenham, have now also broken their silence on this matter. One stronger than the other.
Conte simply said after his side's 2-0 opening night win in the UEFA Champions League: "Honestly, I don't want to be disrespectful, and I think that when another club takes a decision, I think it is right to not comment because you don't know what happened."
Meanwhile, Arteta's response was a lot more heartfelt in essence. I was, yes. It was right before training when we got the news," he said in his pre-Europa League press conference when asked for his initial reaction and the shock of it all. "It is always sad for any colleague in this profession to get fired. Unfortunately, we know how this works. Wish him the best of luck.
"It makes me realise that we have a profession that, in a big per cent, this is going to happen. We have to prepare for it, and we have to enjoy the journey, and we have to enjoy every day because you never know what's coming."
Graham Potter is the red hot favourite to become Tuchel's successor as more talks to formalise his contract terms are set to take place on Thursday. If things were to break down there, former Lilywhites idol and PSG flop Mauricio Pochettino is set to be the next option on the list of potential candidates identified by this Boehly-Clearlake Capital consortium.
Chelsea fans- Do Antonio Conte's and Mikel Arteta's reactions make you feel like the club made the wrong decision in this case?
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