The latest on Graham Potter’s potential move to the Albion
Swansea City may have rejected Brighton and Hove Albion’s initial approach to talk to their manager Graham Potter, but talks between the two clubs remain ongoing as Tony Bloom looks to secure the Championship side’s boss as Chris Hughton’s successor.
Swansea are said to be holding out for £3m in compensation from the Albion, which would trigger the release clause inserted into the three-year deal Potter signed after arriving in south Wales from Ostersund last summer. Should Bloom be willing to meet that, then Potter will be free to open talks about taking over at the Amex.
£3m of course is small fry to a club with three years worth of Premier League money swelling the bank account. Bloom has after all sanctioned the signing of an Argentinian who may not even qualify for a work permit in Alexis Mac Allister for double that amount, which surely makes it a case of when and not if the two clubs agree on a suitable figure for Potter’s services.
For his part, the 43-year-old is said to be interested in the role. The financial constraints placed on him by the Swansea board mean that he has another limited budget to work with next season after performing a stellar job in guiding the Swans to 10th place in the Championship with a squad largely made up of younger, cheap players.
He would also want to bring his trusted coaching staff with him, something that has been made possible by the Albion’s decision to sack Hughton’s assistant Paul Trollope and first team coach Paul Nevin along with the popular former manager.
They could be replaced by Potter’s number two Billy Reid and coach Bjorn Hamberg, both of whom worked with him at Ostersund, whom Potter led from the Swedish fourth tier to the Europa League in the space of seven years.
Most intriguingly is that Potter is also said to want his recruitment expert Kyle Macaulay to make the move from the Liberty Stadium.
That will raise serious questions about the future of the Albion’s current Head of Recruitment Paul Winstanley, who should already be feeling the pressure after 18 months in which he has spent over £50m on players with only Bernardo becoming a first team regular.
£17m Alireza Jahanbakhsh and £14m Jurgen Locadia are two forwards who have managed three Premier League goals and one assist between them, leading to many to question why Winstanley hasn’t paid for his failings in the same way that Hughton has. With Potter wanting Macaulay to join him at the Amex, he might yet.
There are also reports that Potter has told Swansea that if he does make the move to the Amex, he will be pushing for 21-year-old Daniel James to become his first signings as Brighton manager.
James has established himself as one of the hottest properties outside of the top flight. A lightning quick forward, he was one of the young players that Potter was forced to turn to due to the Swans’ financial cutbacks and he has subsequently had a stunning breakthrough season, scoring five times and registering 15 assists.
That has piqued some of the country’s top clubs, with Manchester United said to be willing to part with £15m for his services this summer.
Potter believes that James’ development would be better served by moving to a lesser Premier League side where he will get more game time, which could increase the chances of the Albion pulling off quite a transfer coup.
