Graham Potter has earned praise from Wayne Rooney for developing his managerial skills abroad before stepping into the Chelsea dugout.
After a playing career spent almost entirely outside the Premier League, the former left-back worked a number of jobs in amateur football before moving to Sweden with Ostersund.
Potter excelled in Scandinavia as he led the fourth-tier club to Europe and a cup trophy before finding himself at Chelsea via Brighton and Swansea, a route ex-England star Rooney has been impressed with.
The DC United boss revealed a conversation with the 47-year-old which led to a comparison with the likes of Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson.
“I spoke to Graham last year,” he told The Times. “I had a few hours with him on Zoom and he went through his journey with me. He was good, interesting.
“He was sharing his ideas and I was sharing my ideas of how I work. It’s good to bounce ideas off another coach — I’ve done similar with Gareth Southgate and a few others.
“You look at Graham, or Arsene Wenger who went to Asia. [Jose] Mourinho has been in different places. Fergie started with small clubs in Scotland. Patrick Vieira managed over here [at New York City FC] and went to France.
“Everyone has a different pathway but they all did what they did to educate themselves and better themselves. Sometimes as a manager you just take the job that’s there, and work your way from there.”
