CHELSEA'S HUGE WINDFALL IF GRAHAM POTTER REPLACES GARETH SOUTHGATE AS ENGLAND BOSS EMERGES

Chelsea will land a huge windfall of around £1million if Graham Potter succeeds Gareth Southgate as England manager - after the former Blues coach became one of the frontrunners for the job.

Potter was axed by Chelsea in April 2023, just seven months into the job after 11 defeats in 31 games - a miserable run that followed a spending spree of around £550million on new players under owner Todd Boehly.

However, despite the sour end to his time at Stamford Bridge, the former Brighton manager is being talked up as one of the favourites to lead the Three Lions following Southgate's resignation on Tuesday after England's Euro 2024 final loss to Spain.

Potter was on a reported £200,000-a-week at Chelsea after signing a five-year deal, with the club obliged to keep paying him that salary until October - despite the English coach departing more than a year ago.

However, if the FA decide to appoint Potter, the salary they pay him would be deducted from the figure Chelsea owe, according to Mail Sport, who report that the Blues will therefore be given a boost of £1m.

The report adds that Southgate was on around £5million a year during his time with England and that - should his replacement receive a similar offer - it would come in at around £100,000 a week.

After Potter left in 2023, Boehly decided to bring in Frank Lampard as interim boss for the rest of the season - though the club legend had a nightmare run, winning one of his 11 games to end the campaign.

Former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino was then installed as the next permanent boss to begin the 2023-24 season - though he could only muster a sixth-placed finish and left the club in May. Enzo Maresca was later brought in from Leicester City.

After Southgate's England exit - which came after an agonising 2-1 defeat to Spain in the Berlin final - the FA said it would be seeking to replace him as soon as possible and hoped to have a new boss in charge for the Nations League clash against Republic of Ireland on September 7.

Southgate said it was "the honour of my life" to manage England after eight years in charge but declared it was time for change following two heart-breaking losses in Euro finals.

Alongside Potter, the candidates to succeed Southgate include Pochettino, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe and England Under-21 boss Lee Carsley - while ex-Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp and former Chelsea and Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel are outside bets.

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2024-07-18T16:11:08Z dg43tfdfdgfd