Graham Potter is facing a critical period in his Chelsea career after his team’s 2-0 defeat at Tottenham on Sunday afternoon.
Goals from Oliver Skipp and Harry Kane ensured the Blues stretched their winless run to five league games and remain 10th in the table. It was a result that put more pressure on Potter, who has been criticised for his side’s losses and poor displays.
But, Chelsea will be looking to bounce back when they take on Leeds this weekend – a match that is a must win for them if they want to qualify for the Champions League next campaign.
- Bruno Fernandes ignores Erik ten Hag demand after Carabao Cup win
- Graham Potter told how many games he has left to save Chelsea job
- Why Ziyech’s red card vs Tottenham was rescinded by Stuart Attwell
In the process, one player was left surprised after being left out against Tottenham, while Romelu Lukaku is set to return to the club at the end of the campaign.
Inter Milan chief Beppe Marotta has already confirmed that Romelu Lukaku will return to Chelsea in the summer, although the Belgian star does want to make his loan move permanent.
“Lukaku to stay also next year? It’s too early to decide, he will return to Chelsea and we will see what’s next,” Marotta told Sky. “Lukaku wants to stay at Inter, for sure – we know Romelu’s intention and so we will see if we can negotiate his return here.”
Lukaku has scored only four goals in 15 games this season, but he got the winner in the Champions League first-leg tie against Porto last Wednesday.
Chelsea are still patient with Graham Potter, with chairman Todd Boehly eager to give the manager more time to turn things around.
But if results do not improve very soon and a decision is made to sack the 47-year-old it will cost Chelsea around £50m – a record payout for a managerial dismissal.
That is on top of the £22m in compensation they paid Brighton to release him and a five-man backroom team from their contracts in September.
That was also a world record fee. Potter, whose team has won two of their past 15 games in all competitions, signed an unprecedented five-year deal at Stamford Bridge worth about £60m.
Due to the nature of Chelsea’s now-bloated squad, Potter was forced leave several players out for the trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The former Brighton head coach said that Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella, Chukwuemeka and David Datro Fofana were “unfortunate” to be left out.
But according to the Telegraph, more than one of those players was ‘shocked’ to find out they could not even make the substitutes’ bench.
