Who is Bruno Saltor, the Spaniard who inadvertently became Enzo Fernández’s coach at Chelsea

Certainly Bruno Saltore I never expected it when Graham Potter she called to tell him they were leaving Brighton & Hove Albion and they went to Chelseawould end up directing the Blues. But the dismissal of English led to the settlement of Todd Bolhy and your goal to maintain some stability is to put Saltor in command of the operations of the team that has the Argentine Enzo Fernández like a big figure.

The Catalan DT breaks one of those unwritten laws of English football; when a manager leaves, his coaching staff leave with him, but with ten Premier League games to go before the end of the season and with a Champions League tie against Real Madrid on the horizon, Chelsea’s leadership has chosen not to tear down the bank completely. They have agreed with Potter for Saltor to stay and so Chelsea follow a similar solution to the one Tottenham Hotspur applied recently when they sacked the Italian Antonio Contebut they left to his right, Christian Stellini. Conte approved the successor, just as Potter did.

It will be Saltor’s first experience leading a team. His football career ended three seasons ago and he made the leap directly to being Potter’s assistant at Brighton. There he is considered a legend, with 235 games played, a promotion behind him (that of 2017) and the captaincy in his last few seasons.

At Brighton, who was still a member of the league (English second division) at the time of his signing, he arrived after being released to Valencia at the age of 32. In 2012, Saltor had extensive experience in Spanish football; He had gone through the lower categories of Espanyol, where he made his first team debut in a duel against Rayo Vallecano in 2001, for Nástic de Tarragona and Lleida and for Almería, in 2009.

It was in southern Spain where he settled among the elite and where he met Unai Emerythe man who brought him to Valencia three seasons later. After three courses where he went from plus to minus, Saltor was released in 2012 and moved to England, where Brighton opened its doors to him and made his home. After seven years at the Amex Stadium, he hung up his boots in a heartfelt tribute on England’s south coast. Along with his wife Raquel and their two children, Saltor toured Brighton stadium surrounded by cheering fans.

“I will always be indebted to all of you,” said Saltor, who cleared his colors: “Once a Seagull, Always a Seagull” (Once a seagull -as Brighton is known due to its proximity to the beach-, always a seagull).

He started working at the club straight away, alongside a Potter who arrived months before his retirement at Brighton and the trust placed in him by the England manager meant that when the big opportunity to lead Chelsea arose, he answered the phone and I I would have called Saltore.

Since then, he’s kept a low profile, overseeing training sessions, keeping a low profile, and supporting Potter through one of his toughest times as a trainer.

With the England manager sacked, Saltor has been offered the chance to stay on and make the transition smoother until a new permanent manager, Potter, one of his mentors, has given the green light, and Saltor will become this Tuesday against Liverpool became the second Spaniard to coach Chelsea, after Rafa Benítez did so between November 2012 and June 2013.

Graham Potter, bad deal for Chelsea

Graham Potter’s sacking has not been cheap for Chelsea. To the £21m (€23m) that the English club had to pay Brighton to take Potter off the south shore of England, we must add the liquidation that the manager will receive for the four-and-a-half-year contract that have remained

Because Potter has signed for five seasons, an important leap into the void for Chelsea in a world, that of coaches, in which three seasons are normally signed as a regular contract, with particular cases such as that of Conte, who due to his personality has he only accepted a year and a half after landing at Tottenham Hotspur. A wise decision, as time has shown

However, Chelsea’s new American owners set out to eradicate the Thomas Tuchel era and endow Potter with confidencea manager who came in doing very well with Brighton, developing a colorful football that has delivered, ever since seagulls They had their best seasons in the elite with him.

Furthermore, the Solihull native had the favorite flag to succeed Gareth Southgate at the helm of the England team when he decides to get rid of the Three lions. His resume was immaculate and Chelsea, to convince him, put him on the table for a 12 million pound contract. irresistible.

But things didn’t go as Potter expected and in their last 19 Premier League games they have managed just four wins. The lack of a preseason plus a millionaire investment, yes, but imposed by the owners more than by their requests have contributed to cracking a shaky relationship for months and which was only supported by the comeback against Borussia Dortmund. That victory, coupled with the prospect of an exciting quarter-final against Real Madrid, were arguments enough to think Potter still had a common thread.

Until two sides convicted him. One, the 2-2 against Everton, cooked up at the last minute, when an error in a chain of Enzo Fernández and Kalidou Koulibaly led to a draw for the ‘Toffees’; the second, the defeat against Aston Villa this Saturday, with some Blues defeated in defense and at the mercy of a team that sent them to the bottom of the table. Unacceptable for an armed Chelsea to fight for the title.

That’s why throughout Sunday the Chelsea management made the decision to sack Potter and the DT accepted it, knowing that the relationship had never worked out. “Graham has agreed to help ensure a smooth transition,” said the statement from the London-based team, which is now exploring new options for its replacement bank.

currently, Spaniard Bruno Saltor will take the bench this Tuesday against Liverpool. The unknown is whether it will continue from there, with the draw against Real Madrid on the horizon (12 and 18 April).

Potter’s unexpected departure could be an attempt by Chelsea to get ahead of other teams, such as Tottenham Hotspur, who are chasing Julian Nagelsman, one of the most premium trainers on the market. The German has been free since Bayern Munich sacked him two weeks ago and together with Maurice Pochettino leads the race to occupy the Stamford Bridge bench permanently.

Source: EFE