Wednesday, 14th September, 2022

DAILY ANALYST
Wednesday, 14th September, 2022 Page 11
Sports
Anthony Joshua 'accepts
Tyson Fury's terms' for all-
British December fight
Graham Potter:
Challenge of being
Chelsea manager 'too
big to turn down'
Graham Potter has said
the challenge of being
Chelsea manager was
"too big to turn down".
Potter, 47, left
Brighton to take over at Stamford
Bridge after the Blues sacked
Thomas Tuchel.
His first game in charge will
be a home Champions League
group game against Red Bull
Salzburg on Wednesday.
"You have to look at the tradition,
the quality, size and ambition
of the club here," said Potter,
who signed a five-year deal with
the Blues.
"It's a completely different
challenge from the one I had at
Brighton.
"I had three fantastic years
there, but I'm very thankful to
the owners here for putting their
trust in me."
He added: "My main job is to
help the guys that are here, help
them improve and put a team on
the pitch that the supporters are
proud of.
"We want to create our own
team, our own identity so that
it's recognisable. We'll fight every
day for it."
Chelsea sacked Tuchel the day
after defeat by Dinamo Zagreb in
their opening Champions League
group game, and face a Red Bull
Salzburg side who drew with
AC Milan in their first Group E
match.
Asked if he had ever attended
a Champions League match,
Potter said: "Off the top of my
head, I don't think I have - but
it's a good time for me to get into
the dugout.
"My experiences in the Champions
League are just at supporter
level.
"But obviously I've experienced
the Europa League
with Ostersund, winning at
Galatasaray and getting through
the group stage.
"Wherever we would start it
would be a heck of an introduction,
wherever we start it's going
to be brilliant, so why not start
here?"
Potter was appointed a day
after the departure of Tuchel and
on the same day as the death of
Queen Elizabeth II was announced.
Football paused last weekend
as a mark of respect following the
Queen's death, meaning Chelsea's
match against Fulham was
postponed.
The home game against Red
Bull Salzburg is taking place,
but the Premier League match
against Liverpool on Sunday has
also been called off "due to events
surrounding the Queen's funeral"
on Monday, 19 September.
The international break
comes after this weekend's
games, meaning Potter's first
top-flight match will be at Crystal
Palace on Saturday, 1 October.
"We quickly had to make a
decision," said Potter about his
appointment. "There were a lot of
talks and it was very intense.
"I got a nice feeling for the
owners on a human level. They
are good people. Very intelligent
people with an understanding of
what they want to achieve.
"They've thought in the long
term, they have a plan so that
was exciting.
"The challenge was too big to
turn down. It felt right for me.
"I'll always be respectful and
thankful for Brighton & Hove
Albion, but this is an amazing
football club and an amazing
challenge for us."
Boehly on Tuchel and Chelsea
plans
Meanwhile, Chelsea chairman
Todd Boehly says he is considering
a multi-club model as a way
to develop young players.
The new co-owner cited Manchester
City, who own several
teams worldwide and the Red
Bull teams at Leipzig and Salzburg,
as successful models.
Speaking at the SALT conference
in New York, Boehly spoke
about sacked manager Thomas
Tuchel for the first time, saying
the German didn't have "a shared
vision for the future".
"We have talked about having
a multi-club model, I would love
to continue to build out the footprint,"
Boehly said.
"One of the challenges at
Chelsea is that when you have
18, 19, 20-year old superstars, you
loan them to other clubs but you
put their development in someone
else's hands.
"I think our goal is to make
sure that we can show pathways
to young superstars to get on the
Chelsea pitch while getting them
real game time. And to me the
way to do that is through another
club somewhere in a really competitive
league in Europe."
Anthony Joshua
has accepted
WBC champion
Tyson Fury's
terms for an all-
British heavyweight fight on
3 December and is "awaiting
a response", his management
company has said.
Joshua, 32, was sent an offer
by Team Fury, suggesting a 60-40
purse split to the champion and
a December fight date.
The fight was agreed on
Friday but the announcement
was delayed because of the death
of the Queen last Thursday.
Initial terms have been
agreed but Joshua is yet to sign a
contract.
I won't tell Vinicius Jr to
calm down - Ancelotti
Real Madrid manager
Carlo Ancelotti
says he will not tell
Vinicius Jr to tone
down his style of play
after incidents in La Liga at the
weekend.
The forward argued with
Real Mallorca players and their
In a statement posted
on Twitter and shared by
Joshua, 258MGT said: "258 and
Matchroom Boxing can confirm,
on behalf of Anthony Joshua, that
we accepted all terms presented
to us by Fury's team for a fight."
Fury, 34, had said he was
retiring after beating Dillian
Whyte in April, and reiterated
that claim last month, before
challenging former world
champion Joshua in a video
posted on social media.
Joshua was beaten by
Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk in
their rematch in Saudi Arabia
last month, his third defeat in his
past five bouts.
There is a rematch clause with
coach Javier Aguirre during a 4-1
win for Madrid.
Ancelotti could be seen telling
the Brazilian to calm down, but
played down the issue before
the Champions League match at
home to RB Leipzig.
"I see a great player
demonstrating his talent - that's
a 50-50 split if Joshua beats Fury,
but the venue for the December
fight, should it go ahead, is yet to
be confirmed.
Cardiff's Principality Stadium
has been mooted, while Saudi
Arabia or another country in the
Middle East could also host it.
There are still hurdles to
overcome before the fight is
finalised, with both fighters
signed to rival promoters and
broadcasters, although twotime
champion Joshua this
week entered the WBC rankings
in sixth position in another
significant development.
A boxer must be ranked in the
top 15 by all governing bodies to
challenge for a world title.
it," Ancelotti said.
"I'm not deaf and I'm not
stupid, I can hear what is being
said but this isn't a topic for us or
for Vinicius. He has extraordinary
quality and it's normal that
opponents try to stop him in his
tracks and the rules of the game
are there to protect all players,
not just Vinicius."
Vinicius, 22, has scored in
his past five matches in all
competitions, and Madrid are
in good form heading into the
Leipzig game.
The reigning European
champions have won all five of
their domestic fixtures to lead
La Liga, and won 3-0 at Celtic last
week in their opening Group F
game.
Leipzig endured a humbling
4-1 home defeat by Shakhtar
Donetsk on the same night,
which led to coach Domenico
Tedesco being sacked the next
day
Ḣowever, they have made
a flying start to life under
successor Marco Rose, who
oversaw a 3-0 win over Borussia
Dortmund in the Bundesliga
on Saturday in his first game in
charge