Brighton eye Argentinean manager loved by Guardiola to replace Potter

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After the departure of Graham Potter to Chelsea, Brighton are considering a move for River Plate manager Marcelo Gallardo, according to reports in South America. The Seagulls have made a superb start to the season and are keen to prevent their change of face in the dugout from derailing their optimistic push for European football.

Brighton are currently fourth in the Premier League and have lost just one of their opening six games of the season, winning four. The progress of the side was shown as they put Leicester to the sword in a 5-2 win last weekend, though fortunes have somewhat changed at the Amex Stadium.

Chelsea’s sacking of Thomas Tuchel in midweek set alarm bells ringing on the south coast, with Todd Boehly’s long-term interest in Potter known over the summer. After talks, the former Swansea City boss opted to make the move to the London outfit, taking a team of five with him and thus leaving Brighton in the market for a complete reshuffle.

The Seagulls have had a contingency plan in place for Potter’s departure for over a year given that the 47-year-old has been linked with numerous jobs over the past three years, and Gallardo is on the list of candidates to replace him according to South American reports. The Argentine has impressed over the years in Argentina, earning praise from Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola previously.

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Gallardo has won 14 trophies during his time with River Plate and was linked with Barcelona before Xavi’s appointment. Though Guardiola, speaking in 2019, believes that the 46-year-old deserves to be recognised as one of the business.

He told TNT Sports: “What Gallardo has done with River is incredible. Some things are inexplicable. Every year three coaches are named as the best in the world, and he’s never among them. I can’t understand it.”

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Gallardo is out of contract at River Plate at the end of the season, though that has become the new norm for the Argentinean outfit given that the manager is more fond of short-term contracts than extended deals. Though the former Nacional boss has hinted in the media recently that he could be willing to take up a long-term project elsewhere – which will certainly be music to the ears of Brighton if they attempt to prise him to the Premier League.

Express Sport understands that the Seagulls has been an ‘incredibly high volume of interest’ in their managerial vacancy and are set to begin more concrete talks with clients from the start of next week. Bodo/Glimt manager Kjetil Knutsen and former Sassuolo boss Roberto De Zerbi have been linked with the role, as well as Steve Cooper – who has under a year left of his contract with Nottingham Forest.

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