At this point, you have to wonder what one of the most high-profile managers on the market is waiting for.
What sort of an opportunity does he feel is the right one for him to kick-start his coaching career again? Not Ajax, it seems, the 49-year-old recently turning down the chance to take over at the Dutch giants who have fallen so far since the departure of Erik ten Hag.
Francesco Farioli, Roberto de Zerbi’s old Sassuolo assistant, is instead taking the reigns at the Johan Cruyff Arena.
Graham Potter, meanwhile, remains without a club. And after talks with Leicester City went the same way as those Ajax discussions – the Championship champions shifting their focus to Steve Cooper instead – there appears to be a very real chance that the 2024/25 campaign begins without Potter being situated in any dugout.
Leicester City go from Graham Potter to Steve Cooper
The Guardian now reports that Leicester are in advanced talks to bring Steve Cooper to the King Power Stadium instead. Cooper was a hugely popular presence at Midland neighbours Nottingham Forest before his emotional departure just before Christmas, and appears more a lot more willing than Potter at this stage to step into the chair vacated by Enzo Maresca following his appointment at Chelsea.
For one-time Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan, missing out on Potter may not necessarily be a bad thing for Leicester, insisting that The Foxes need a manager who wants them as much as they want him.
“I think Leicester is possibly a good job for (Potter),” Jordan tells talkSPORT (19 June, 11.40am). “If Leicester walked out of the room thinking they had got an agreement, it will be exasperating.
“The last thing you want to do is interview somebody, give them an opportunity, and then have to convince them to do the job in the first place. They are the ones who should be pulling your arm off at the shoulder, not the other way around.
“It is not Leicester’s job to rebuild Graham Potter, offer him an opprtunity to redeem his reputation. It is to get a guy in who sees Leicester as his opportunity, not the other way around.”
Former Chelsea boss tipped for Fulham job?
So what next? What is the next step for Potter, who’s reputation took a bruising at Chelsea and was eventually overlooked by Ineos for the Manchester United job with Ten Hag sticking around?
Jordan feels Potter may have to build his standing up from the ground again. The former Brighton boss should not expect to conjure up interest from clubs such as Chelsea or Man United, but instead more mid-table teams.
“I can understand why he doesn’t go to Ajax, because Ajax is a car crash right now,” adds Jordan. “They are all over the place. Your manager doesn’t often get enhanced by working in these places.
“When Marco Silva does his inevitable soft shoe shuffle somewhere else, then I could see him managing someone like Fulham. Most clubs are a step down from Chelsea (but) he is not, in my view, a top-six manager.
“I think that a Fulham – or someone like that – is where his level might be.”
The famously flighty Silva has shown no real desire to leave Fulham as of yet though the excellent work he has done at Craven Cottage hasn’t gone unnoticed. According to The Athletic, Man United’s new decision-makers held talks around the FA Cup victory over Man City.
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