Graham Potter has been named as Chelsea’s new manager after Thomas Tuchel was fired.
Potter joined the Blues on a five-year contract after leaving rival Premier League team Brighton.
The 47-year-old expressed his “extreme pride and excitement to represent Chelsea” in a statement.
On Saturday at 12:30 BST, Potter’s first game in charge will be an away derby against Fulham, another team from west London.
Todd Boehly, the club’s chairman, said, “We are excited to bring Graham to Chelsea.
“He matches our ambition for the club since he is an innovative coach with experience in the Premier League.
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He is not only incredibly talented on the field, but he also possesses skills and abilities that will help Chelsea become a more prosperous team.
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“We look forward to helping him, his coaching staff, and the squad in realizing their full potential in the coming months and years,” said Chelsea. “He has had a significant impact at his previous clubs, and we look forward to his good impact at Chelsea.”
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Potter, a former Ostersunds FK and Swansea City manager, guided Brighton to their best-ever top-flight finish in ninth place last year.
In this season’s Premier League, he has led them to fourth place after winning four, drawing one, and dropping one of their six games.
With the Blues currently sixth in the Premier League and Tuchel having won three titles in his 20 months at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea made the decision to fire the German.
“I am really eager to work with Chelsea’s new ownership group and look forward to meeting and working with the dynamic group of players,” said Potter. “I want to build a club and culture that our incredible fans can be proud of.”
Additionally, he expressed his “sincere gratitude” to Brighton and its chairman Tony Bloom for their assistance throughout his little more than three-year stay at the club.
He will be joined at Chelsea by Potter’s assistant Billy Reid, first-team coaches Bjorn Hamberg and Bruno, goalkeeping coach Ben Roberts, and assistant head of recruiting Kyle Macaulay.
The interim head coach of Brighton is now Andrew Crofts, who previously led Brighton’s Under-21 team.
“I am very disappointed that Graham will be leaving us,” stated Bloom.
“He is a great head coach and a remarkable person. Over the previous three and a half seasons, he has performed incredibly well. He was a major loss to our football team.
“With the team in its best position ever and after helping us achieve our best finish in club history last season, he leaves a fantastic legacy for his successor.
“I’d want to express my gratitude to Graham, Billy, Bjorn, Bruno, Ben, and Kyle for their efforts here and my best wishes for their future success.
“While our attention is now on appointing Graham’s successor as head coach our immediate focus, of course, is on Saturday’s game at Bournemouth and supporting Andrew Crofts as interim head coach.”
Potter, a former fullback in the Football League with Stoke, West Brom, and York, started his managerial career with Ostersunds FK in 2010. He helped the team advance from the fourth to the first division of Swedish football, win the 2017 Swedish Cup, and advance to the round of 16 of the Europa League.
When taking over as manager of Swansea City in June 2018, he spent one season in the Championship with the team before moving on to manage Brighton in May 2019 after Chris Hughton was fired.
In his remaining three full seasons as manager, Potter led the team to finishes in fifteenth, sixteenth, and ninth.
