02 February 2023 , 22:30
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Graham Potter says if he wanted an easy life he would have stayed at Brighton.
Instead, Potter now faces mission impossible at Stamford Bridge as he tries to squeeze all of Chelsea’s 14 new signings into his line-up after a £600m spending spree.
Potter admitted he had even had a laugh at the meme on social media of him as Freddie Mercury addressing the 72,000 Live Aid crowd in 1985 compared to one of his team talks because he has now got so many players.
Chelsea boss Potter has been reassured that his job is safe even if they miss out on the top four but is not shying away from the task having come from Brighton in September after having previous stints at Swansea and Swedish minnows Ostersunds.
Potter said: “If I wanted a nice, easy life then I would have stayed at my previous jobs. The point of this opportunity was the challenge of trying to shape and help and support a football club in quite a significant transition. That’s what it is.
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“What we’ve done in this window is exciting, the players are exciting, you can see the direction we’re trying to go in, which is building for the future but at the same time quality that can compete now.
“Signing players is relatively easy, signing the right ones isn’t. Then aligning everyone together so we’re all on the same path is part of my job and my staff’s job. To support the club in the decisions they make.
“My job is to help the club get better and constantly improve. When you look back on my time in all my jobs, when I have left those football clubs they have all been in a better place than when I arrived.
Graham Potter knows how difficult his task at Chelsea is (Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)“That’s essentially the job of a head coach, to help the club, support the club, improve the club and improve the team - and take on the challenge.
“It’s an exciting time for me. As much as the managerial manual might say something different, things are never perfect and you just have to make the best of it.”
The biggest arrival of all is Argentina World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez, 22, who arrived on deadline day after a record breaking £105m move.
Chelsea are targeting younger players with big futures, setting a new more modest wage structure with the huge fees also spread out over the length of eight year contracts.
Chelsea unveiled the signing of Enzo Fernandez on Wednesday (Chelsea FC via Getty Images)But the Fernandez fee is still mind-boggling considering that he only joined Benfica for £9m last summer and was hardly the biggest star for Argentina at the World Cup.
Fernandez completed his move with minutes to scare which may mean he has to wait for his debut as he only reported up for training in the past two days.
Potter said: “Every transfer is a gamble. If you look at the market for midfield players – certainly midfield players that haven’t won the World Cup – you’ll be quoted a lot of money.
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“We’ve got a player with a huge personality. He played in the midfield for Argentina that won the World Cup. He has attributes that can help him play in any league in the world.
“He has already played well in the Champions League. We followed him before the World Cup and knew about him anyway. We’re confident about his personality.
“It’s like anything: he’s still a young person, he’s still a young man coming to this country. You’ve got to adapt to the club. But we’ll help him with that and his personality is one where you think ‘Oh, I’ve got no worries about him’
“He’s a fighter. He understands how fortunate he is. He fights for the team. He’s got courage, he’s not afraid and is open-minded.”
Meanwhile, Hakim Ziyech has returned to training after his botched move to Paris Saint Germain fell through in a row over paperwork but is unlikely to start against Fulham.