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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Dan Marsh

Graham Potter's staggering pay-off as Chelsea fail to learn from FIVE mistakes

Graham Potter is set to bank £13million from Chelsea after being dismissed just seven months into the lucrative five-year contract he penned with the Blues back in September.

And that means that Chelsea have now shelled out over £95m in paying off a host of former managers over the years.

Potter was lured to Stamford Bridge from Brighton after the club forked out around £13m to dispense with the services of Thomas Tuchel weeks after Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital completed a deal to acquire the former European champions earlier in the season. But Potter's reign ultimately failed to live up to expectations and he was sacked on Sunday with the Blues languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League.

According to The Guardian, Potter will not receive the full value of the five-year deal he signed last year, but he will still pocket a payoff worth around £13m after being relieved of his duties by Boehly and co.

Mirror Football outlined back in February that Chelsea could face a staggering £50m bill if they decided to put Potter, who won just 12 of his 31 games in charge at the club, out of his misery in what would have equated to a world-record payout.

And although they have avoided that outcome by reaching an agreement with the beleaguered former Brighton chief, their latest payout underlines that the Blues have been burned again after shelling out big bucks to get rid of several previous managers.

Prior to Potter's sacking, Tuchel pocked an identical sum after he was brutally axed by Boehly earlier in the season. Antonio Conte was also paid off to the tune of around £26.6m by the club during his tenure, while Jose Mourinho also landed a big payoff (£18m).

Join the debate! Have Chelsea made the right decision in getting rid of Potter? Let us know here.

Graham Potter is set to be paid around £13million after being sacked by Chelsea on Sunday (Getty Images)

Chelsea have also paid out to part company with Luiz Felipe Scolari (£13.6m) and Andre Villas-Boas (£12m): meaning they have shelled out north of £95m in compensation down the years to five previous managers.

The Blues, who paid out £22m in compensation in order to release Potter and five of his backroom staff from their contracts at Brighton back in September, will seek a permanent successor to Potter at the end of the season after confirming that Bruno Saltor will oversee the final 10 games of the campaign as interim head coach.

Already, a host of high profile names have been linked with the Stamford Bridge vacancy: including former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann and Mauricio Pochettino.

But according to The Sun, the Stamford Bridge hierarchy have identified former Barcelona head coach Luis Enrique as their preferred candidate for the job and will see talks with the 52-year-old, who stood down from his role with the Spanish national team following their elimination from the World Cup.

Full list of 10 most expensive manager pay-offs

10 . Andre Villas-Boas (Chelsea) - £12m

9 . Mauricio Pochettino ( Tottenham ) - £12.5m

8 . Thomas Tuchel & Graham Potter (Chelsea) - £13m

7 . Fabio Capello ( Russia ) - £13.4m,

6 . Luiz Felipe Scolari (Chelsea) - £13.6m

5 . Jose Mourinho (Tottenham) - £16m

4 . Laurent Blanc (PSG) - £17m

3 . Jose Mourinho (Chelsea) - £18m

2 . Jose Mourinho ( Manchester United ) - £19.6m

1 . Antonio Conte (Chelsea) - £26.6m

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