Four candidates shortlisted for the Brighton head coach role following Graham Potter's departure to Chelsea

According to The Athletic – Kjetil Knutsen, Russell Martin, Nathan Jones and Steve Cooper are on a shortlist of potential names to take on the role after Graham Potter was named the new manager of Chelsea on Thursday.

Potter, 42, signed a five-year-deal with the West London outfit worth £50 million, ending his three-year-reign at the Amex Stadium.

The former Albion manager has taken assistant Billy Reid, coach Bjorn Hamberg and recruitment analyst Kyle Macaulay with him to Stamford Bridge, together with captain-turned-coach Bruno Saltor and goalkeeping coach Ben Roberts.

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Albion’s under-21 coach Andrew Crofts has been placed in temporary charge of the club. He will be supported by his assistant Shannon Ruth, set-play coach Nick Stanley and assistant goalkeeping coach Jack Stern.

Midfielder Adam Lallana will also be in the Brighton dugout in a player-coach role.

Brighton are hoping to make an announcement sooner rather then later and the new manager’s first game is now expected to be on October 1 – when the Seagulls travel to Anfield to face Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.

Here is a little more about the four names being suggested as Potter’s replacement….

Kjetil Knutsen

Norwegian football coach Knutsen has been managing FK Bodø/Glimt since 2018 and led the club to their first domestic league title in 2020 – in a record breaking season for the club, where they lost just one game.

In his first season manging in Europe, his side beat Jose Mourinho’s Roma 6-1 in the Europa Conference League group stage, being the first manager in history to score six goals against a Mourinho team.

FK Bodø/Glimt retained the league title last year and are currently second in the table in this campaign, competing against Arsenal in the group stage of the Europa League.

Russell Martin

Brighton-born Martin began his career in Albion’s academy and went on to have a playing career that spanned 15 years.

The defender made more then 500 league appearances for clubs such as Wycombe, Peterborough and Norwich.

He began his managerial career with an 18-month tenure at MK Dons, where his possession-based style of play caught the attention of Swansea City.

Martin signed a three-year contract as head coach of the Swans in August 2021 – leading the club to a 15th place finish in the Championship last season.

Nathan Jones

Luton Town manager Nathan Jones is another name suggested for the Brighton role – having made 183 appearances for the club as a player and working as an assistant manager under Óscar García in 2013.

Despite a forgettable six-month spell as manager of Stoke City in 2019, Jones has helped transformed Luton since becoming manager in 2016 (and again in July 2019).

The 49-year-old has taken the club away from relegation zone of League Two to the Championship Play-Off semi-finals in six years – winning 47% of his 291 games in charge.

Steve Cooper

And finally, Steve Cooper gained the attention of the football coaching world when he lead the England U17 team to world cup glory in 2017.

His first role with a domestic team came at Swansea City in 2019.

In the two seasons he was there, he lead the club to the play offs in both campaigns, being defeated by Brentford in the semi finals on each occasion.

His most impressive achievement so far though has been getting Nottingham Forest promoted to the Premier League for the first time in 23 years.

When Cooper took over in September 2021, Forest were bottom of the Championship table, but under his management the team only lost six of their next 38 league games, before beating Huddersfield 1-0 in the Play-Off final.