Chelsea News: Todd Boehly sack Thomas Tuchel and target Brighton's Graham Potter

In breaking Chelsea News, Chelsea have sacked Thomas Tuchel as manager after their 1-0 defeat at Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League and approached Brighton for permission to speak to Graham Potter.

Potter is Chelsea's first choice but Mauricio Pochettino and Zinedine Zidane, both of whom are out of work, are also on their shortlist.

Potter has a release clause which is believed to decrease each year and is currently about £16m.

Tuchel's departure follows a disappointing start to the season, with the club having also been beaten by Leeds and Southampton in the Premier League, and has been on the cards after Tuchel's relationship with the co-owner Todd Boehly unravelled during a chaotic summer transfer window. The pair had all but stopped communicating.

Chelsea have spent a record £266m in one window to bring in Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella, Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Carney Chukwuemeka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang among others.

That increased the pressure on Tuchel but not all were his signings and there were other instances of the ownership attempting to foist players on him.

One example was the case of Anthony Gordon, who Tuchel did not want.

Boehly's data analysts had pushed for the Everton midfielder after being impressed by some of his performance metrics.

Tuchel came to feel he had too many players to accommodate and not enough he could count on.

Boehly learned that some senior players were unhappy with Tuchel's tactics and is keen to make his own appointment.

Chelsea used three formations in Zagreb, one of which included using Sterling in central midfield.

The squad were surprised to be given time off after the 3-0 defeat at Leeds in August and some wondered whether he would have taken the same approach in the early part of his reign.

Chelsea FC Website released a statement:

"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," a statement said. "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."

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