Graham Potter has been sacked as the manager of Chelsea after a mostly disappointing six months in charge. The Blues suffered a dismal defeat at the hands of Aston Villa on Saturday evening and a club statement the following night confirmed the departure of Potter.
The statement read: "Chelsea FC has announced that Graham Potter has departed the club. Graham has agreed to collaborate with the Club to facilitate a smooth transition. 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."
The decision to part ways with Potter comes just 48 hours before a decisive clash in the Premier League against Liverpool. In April, Chelsea also face a monumental Champions League quarter-final tie with Real Madrid.
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Later in the statement, Chelsea Co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali said: "On behalf of everyone at the club, we want to thank Graham sincerely for his contribution to Chelsea. 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."
In terms of replacements, Julian Nageslmann is at the top of the list, football.london understands. The young, exciting coach was sacked by Bayern Munich in March, with former Blues boss Thomas Tuchel replacing him at Allianz Arena.
Chelsea also confirmed that Bruno Saltor will take charge of the team as interim head coach. A press conference ahead of the meeting with Liverpool was set for lunchtime on Monday, but that is now uncertain.
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