January 12 – Chelsea manager Graham Potter has described his current job as “probably the hardest in football” as he tries to salvage their season.
Chelsea changed ownership last May when a consortium headed by Todd Boehly completed a £4.25 billion takeover from the Roman Abramovich era.
But the club have slumped to 10th in the Premier League after winning only one of their last eight games and have been knocked out of both domestic cup competitions.
“It is a challenge, stimulating and ridiculously hard. I think it is probably the hardest job in football because of that leadership change and the expectations because of, rightly, where people see Chelsea,” Potter said before Chelsea’s trip to neighbours Fulham tonight when the spotlight will be firmly on the manager.
“I obviously didn’t think we’d lose 10 first-team players (to injury)… I also acknowledge that I am the head coach and when we lose I’m to blame.”
Chelsea supporters sang the name Potter’s predecessor Thomas Tuchel during Sunday’s 4-0 cup defeat at Manchester City.
To help offset their current crisis, the London club have signed Atletico Madrid striker Joao Felix on loan for the rest of the season for a reported fee of €11 million.
Arsenal and Manchester United had been linked with Felix, whose wages Chelsea will pay in full until the end of the season as part of the loan deal.
Atletico made Felix the fifth-most expensive player in history when they paid Benfica £113m for the then 19-year-old in 2019. He was part of the Portugal squad at the World Cup, scoring once in five games as they reached the quarter-finals.
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