Graham Potter of Swansea City is a leading candidate to replace Chris Hughton after the Brighton manager was sacked on Monday morning.
The Seagulls only narrowly survived relegation after a dreadful run of form in 2019, winning just two games since January, but Hughton was dismissed without the club ever actually falling into the drop zone and despite reaching an FA Cup semi-final.
“Our run of three wins from 23 Premier League matches put our status at significant risk,” said club owner Tony Bloom.
“It is with that in mind, and the performances during that period, that I now feel it’s the right time for a change.”
Albion, who rely heavily on analytics to drive recruitment and who recently hired Dan Ashworth to be their new technical director, decided to move on from Hughton in favour of finding a head coach who can get the best out of a glut of intriguing attacking players that the club has invested in at great expense – namely Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Jurgen Locadia and Jose Izquierdo.
Potter, who enjoyed great success with Ostersunds in Sweden before stabilising the ship at Swansea, is one of the top names on Brighton’s list though they are considering candidates on the continent also.
While the Swans’ 10th-placed finish may not stand out as a job that would earn Potter a shot at the Premier League, he successfully helped the club steer clear of danger despite sixteen players leaving in the summer and just five new arrivals coming in.
Potter promoted youth prospects from the academy and played attacking football that won plaudits from neutrals, has increased the value of the club’s young players and helped the Welsh outfit reach an FA Cup quarter-final.
While Swansea are reluctant to lose Potter, they are understood to be unlikely to stand in the way of his Premier League dream.
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