Chelsea are confident in the imminent appointment of Graham Potter as their new manager.
The Blues moved quickly to try and secure a deal for the Brighton boss after the surprise decision to sack Thomas Tuchel on Wednesday morning.
The 47-year-old met Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbaliin in London on Wednesday afternoon for talks after Brighton reluctantly granted permission.
Chelsea want to name Potter ahead of Saturday’s trip to Fulham, which you can listen to live on talkSPORT.
Further talks are expected on Thursday morning but the Blues don’t see any problems after arranging a lucrative multi-year contract for the Englishman.
Brighton are entitled to £20m compensation due to a release clause in Potter’s contract, but that won’t be a problem for the new owner of Chelsea.
The decision to scrap Tuchel was made ahead of Tuesday night’s 1-0 Champions League loss to Dinamo Zagreb.
Chelsea’s new owners have been worried about a number of disappointing results and it’s understood there has also been a breakdown in communications with Boehly and Tuchel.
Boehly has backed Tuchel with over £270m in transfers this summer – including the signing of former Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on deadline day.
However, Chelsea had had a disappointing start to the 2022/23 season.
Potter has received many accolades for the work he has done with the Seagulls, who currently sit fourth in the Premier League after picking up wins over Manchester United and a 5-2 thrashing of Leicester this season.
Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has praised Potter as he reacted to Tuchel’s sacking.
He told talkSPORT: “I love watching Brighton play and I could praise Graham Potter all day.
“He will probably go on to bigger and better things, but it was only last season that Brighton had a bad run and couldn’t win at home, and there was one game in particular where the fans were booing. Things change very quickly in football.
“But I wouldn’t be disappointed if I was a Chelsea fan if Potter came to the door.”
If Potter’s move fails, Mauricio Pochettino has also been mooted as a possible option for Chelsea.