Back in 2022, when Tod Boehly bought Chelsea, fans dreamed of a new era that would further enhance their Premier League reputation. But reality has been a lot different. With massive investments in players with little return, it’s been a story of loss so far. But someone’s loss is someone’s gain and in Chelsea’s loss, Graham Potter was the one winning.
The former Chelsea boss was fired from the role in April 2023, just after a 7-month stay at Stamford Bridge. However, he’s still counting the bills that Chelsea are sending his way, to be specific £200,000 a week. But why is Potter getting that money even after a year of his dismissal?
This was due to the settlement between the club and the manager at the time of their parting. Chelsea agreed to pay him £200k a week for 18 months. But that still doesn’t answer the question. Why would someone pay him even after being fired? For that, let’s head to the drawing board.
£200k for 18 months amounts to £14.4 million. Chelsea’s agreement with Potter was for 5 years. That means if the club sacked him within that period, the club had to pay compensation to him. But you probably know about it already. What Chelsea did was spread the amount over 18 months to avoid losing out a lump sum amount at one go.
This has significance as well. Thanks to the astronomical fees paid for players in the Boehly era, Chelsea found themselves in a pickle. The Profit and Sustainability Rule of the Premier League does not allow a club to make a loss of over a fixed amount according to the club’s generated revenue. The timeline for the calculation is for every season along with the two previous ones.
So spreading a loss of £14.4 million over 18 months was a smart choice for Chelsea. This also keeps Potter’s pockets filled while he stays on hiatus from managerial roles. With the deal struck with the Blues, Potter will keep getting £200k every week till October.
Now what if Potter takes up another managerial job? Thanks to the virtue of the deal, Chelsea can pay him a deducted amount from what his next employers will pay. Suppose Potter’s new job will pay him £150k a week. So Chelsea can pay him £50k for the rest of the duration till October.
And that prospect looks bright as Potter made his first public appearance since his sacking last year. This is how he looks now:
The cap on his head is due to the honorary doctorate he received at Leeds Beckett University. There he opened up about the prospect of filling the managerial void left by the departure of Gareth Southgate in the England hot seat.
‘Today is not the day to speak about [the England vacancy]. I’m proud of the job Gareth Southgate did.
As an Englishman in football, I don’t think there’s anybody who has more respect than he has, how he conducted himself, him and his staff, qualifying for tournaments, going deep into tournaments, getting the country behind the team, he’s done an amazing job,’ Potter told Sky Sports during the ceremony.
Potter is one of the front-runners to land the Three Lions job with Pep Guardiola and Eddie Howe in contention as well.
‘Now I’m in that good place where I’m happy to be ready and looking forward to the next challenge,’ Potter said about his current status for a job. So if England decides to move for Potter, it will give some rejoicing to the Chelsea fans.