Cheslea sack Graham Potter before Champions League tie with Real Madrid: how much will it cost them?

Chelsea have sacked manager Graham Potter just 10 days before they take on Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League. Just when it looked as if the former Brighton boss had got the Blues on track after their victory in the competition over Borussia Dortmund, a disappointing draw at home to Everton was followed by a 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Where are Chelsea in the Premier League table?

The result leaves the club in the bottom half (11th) of the Premier League table after 28 matches, 12 points adrift of the top four, where they need to finish to ensure Champions League qualification for next season, provided they don’t win the competition in June.

How much has Blues co-owner Todd Boehly spent?

Chelsea co-owner and chairman Todd Boehly has spent over $600 million on new players since coming into the club in June last year, including around $350 million in the winter transfer window, a time that is notoriously to sign elite-level players. The Blues beat off stiff competition to snap up Argentina’s World Cup-winning Enzo Fernández for £106 million ($130 million) from Benfica but progress on the field has been limited.

What was Potter’s salary at Chelsea?

After spending three seasons at Brighton, Potter replaced now-Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel in September, signing a five-year contract worth a reported £12 million (about $14.8 million) a season. Under normal circumstances, Chelsea would have been forced to pay up the remainder of his contract, which would have totalled £60 million (almost $74 million, including what Potter has already received), just a matter of months after paying his £21.5 million ($26.5 million) release clause to the Seagulls.

However, The Athletic have reported that Potter “will be paid receive regular severance unrelated to the remaining duration of the five contract”. As it stands, the (still undoubtedly significant) figures aren’t known but Chelsea look set to avoid what would have been a world-record fee to sack a manager.

Who will Potter’s replacement at Chelsea be?

Rumours abound about who will come in as the next permanent manager at Stamford Bridge but Spaniard Bruno Saltor, who played for Brighton from 2012 to 2019 and worked under Potter at the Seagulls and then followed him to the Blues, has been named interim coach for the time being.

This is a developing story and will be updated.