Leeds and Dortmund matches ‘make or break’ for Graham Potter amid player anger at Chelsea – Paper Round

Leeds and Dortmund ‘make or break’ for Potter

“Todd Boehly was at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday to see Chelsea’s latest defeat and is scheduled to be joined by co-controlling owner Behdad Eghbali for the games against Leeds United and Borussia Dortmund at Stamford Bridge.

“Given the current circumstances, that feels significant enough and even if he were not sacked immediately after the Dortmund game if Chelsea have failed to win either of their next two matches, those around the club, including players, believe there would ultimately be no way back.”

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… Or is it?

Though the Telegraph does not claim losses to Leeds and Dortmund will certainly see Potter sacked, the Guardian says the Chelsea head coach will remain in his position regardless, with the summer viewed as central to Potter’s chances of transforming this squad.

“The owners like the calm way Potter is going about his business and have built a structure around him, including by hiring two recruitment specialists who worked with him at Brighton in his previous job.”

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Potter frustrated with bloated squad

More Chelsea? Okay then. This time it’s an exclusive from the Mail, which claims Potter is frustrated by the fact this bloated squad are “ruining his training sessions”. Chelsea spent more than £300m on eight players in January, and only Jorginho departed – new signings Andrey Santos and Malo Gusto will not feature until the summer – leaving Potter with a group too large for his preferred way of working.

“While Potter was consulted and gave the green light to the most recent signings, he hoped that more fringe players would be offloaded, and even told the club’s website that a 30-man squad would be ‘a problem’.”

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Man Utd bidders to hear response this week

Away from Chelsea, and up north to Manchester United, where the bidders are set to hear from Raine Group this week amid a drop in share prices and a fear the Glazers will stay on. Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe are the frontrunners to take over the club.

“The development comes following another rough day for the club’s share price. The figure rocketed when this newspaper revealed that a bid from Qatar would be forthcoming earlier this month.”