Chelsea have reached a verbal agreement with Brighton manager, Graham Potter, to replace Thomas Tuchel as the club’s head coach.

Tuchel was sacked on Wednesday in the wake of Chelsea’s 1-0 loss to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League and just six games into the new Premier League season.

Chelsea owner, Todd Boehly, met Graham Potter in central London on Wednesday afternoon for what were described as “positive talks” about the Brighton manager’s future role at Stamford Bridge and the club’s plans to develop the whole football operation.

According to Sky Sports, the discussions continued in the early hours of Thursday, with the focus on the legal details of his contract and Potter’s backroom staff.

No contracts have yet been signed, however both sides have reached a verbal agreement about the 47-year-old taking over at Stamford Bridge.

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Chelsea made it clear they were prepared to meet Brighton’s exit clause figure for Potter.

Mauricio Pochettino and Zinedine Zidane, who are both out of work, as well as Sporting in Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim were all also on Chelsea’s radar.

Potter will become the first managerial appointment of the Boehly era following his summer takeover.

The American is still acting as sporting director having moved on director Marina Granovskaia, chairman Bruce Buck, and technical and performance advisor Petr Cech in a complete overhaul of Roman Abramovich’s trusted staff.

Below are Chelsea’s next fixtures:

September 10: Fulham (A)

September 14: Red Bull Salzburg (H)

September 18: Liverpool (H)

October 1: Crystal Palace (A)

October 5: AC Milan (H)

The Star