Graham Potter offered the Chelsea job and is likely to be in the dugout at Fulham on Saturday

Chelsea has offered Graham Potter their vacant manager’s job after the shock sacking of Thomas Tuchel.

The Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. coach was in advanced talks with the Blues on Wednesday night and an agreement is said to be close. He is expected to be in charge for Saturday’s Premier League clash at Fulham.

Having made a formal approach to Brighton, Chelsea were granted permission to speak to Potter. 

Those talks are understood to have been led by co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali in London on Wednesday afternoon, September 7, and continued into the evening.

Sources have indicated Potter is fully open to taking over at Stamford Bridge and that reaching an agreement will be straight forward. 

The 47-year-old is understood to have a release clause of at least £12m in his contract, meaning Brighton are powerless to stop their manager leaving. 

Recruitment analyst Kyle Macaulay and first-team coach Billy Reid are among the Brighton staff set to follow Potter to London.

Tuchel was sacked on Wednesday hours after his side’s 1-0 defeat at Dinamo Zagreb, Chelsea’s third loss in seven games.