Leandro Trossard has confirmed that he would take the chance to reunite with former Brighton boss Graham Potter at Chelsea, but only if he was assured regular first-team football.
Belgian winger Trossard was one of Potter’s key players at the Amex Stadium, scoring twice and providing as many assists already this season and notching eight goals in 35 appearances across all competitions last term.
Potter’s decision to depart the south coast for Stamford Bridge as Thomas Tuchel’s successor earlier this month will no doubt place question marks over the futures of a number of Brighton’s key players heading towards the January transfer window, with the newly-appointed Roberto De Zerbi hoping to hit the ground running after being hired last week.
Indeed, Scottish midfielder Billy Gilmour had swapped Chelsea for Potter’s Brighton in a £9million transfer on summer deadline day, just over a week before the Englishman moved in the opposite direction.
Trossard would appear keen to follow former Seagulls team-mate Marc Cucurella to west London if the chance were to come up, but he would need guarantees over playing time in a competitive squad first.
“Our coach did leave for Chelsea now but speculation about me following him makes no sense,” Trossard told newspaper Het Nieuwsblad while away on international duty with Belgium. “If the opportunity arises, I want to go. But I want to play and not sit on the bench.”
Speaking earlier this week ahead of Belgium’s Nations League double-header against Wales and the Netherlands, the 27-year-old said Brighton’s players were not surprised by “brilliant” Potter being poached by Chelsea and that he was excited to work with ex-Shakhtar Donetsk coach De Zerbi.
“It all happened quite quickly,” he said. “One day we heard Tuchel was fired and that Graham was up there to take his place.
“For us it was a bit of a shock, but we knew that maybe one day he could go because he is a brilliant manager.
“At the beginning it was a bit strange, but now with the new coach we need to move on as a club and as players. I am excited to work with the new coach.”
