Potter becomes frontrunner for Everton job as Nuno heads for Palace

Odds have been slashed on Graham Potter becoming Carlo Ancelotti’s replacement as Everton manager, following previous favourite Nuno Espirito Santo closing in on a move to Crystal Palace.

Sky Bet now make Brighton boss Potter the outright favourite for the job, in fact, offering the shortest odds of any manager in the running of 11/10.

Everton will appoint a fifth permanent manager in as many years this summer after Ancelotti’s shock abrupt return to Real Madrid last Tuesday.

They had been linked most strongly with Nuno, who left Wolverhampton Wanderers at the end of the season, and had supposedly opened talks with him, but the Telegraph today revealed he is on the verge of becoming Roy Hodgson’s successor at Palace instead.

The Athletic have also reported that Potter, 46, has not been disregarded by any members of the Everton hierarchy, with director of football Marcel Brands said to be a particular admirer of him.

Behind Potter in the running according to Sky Bet are Eddie Howe (3/1), Duncan Ferguson (5/1) and David Moyes (8/1), followed by Nuno and Rafael Benitez (both 10/1).

While it may not be the same star-studded appointment for Everton as that of Ancelotti’s 18 months ago, Potter’s managerial career has been on an upward trajectory since he cut his teeth with Östersund.

He took over the Swedish side in 2011 when they were in the fourth tier and led them to the top-flight for the first time in their history by 2015, before winning a domestic cup in 2017 and reaching the Europa League last 32 in 2018 (winning away at Arsenal in the second leg of their tie but losing on aggregate).

He left the following summer for Swansea, newly-relegated from the Premier League, and after one season at the Liberty Stadium where he delivered a tenth-placed Championship finish and an FA Cup quarter-final appearance, moved to Brighton in May 2019.

Under Potter, Brighton have finished 15th and 16th in the Premier League, registering 41 points and the same number of wins, draws and defeats (nine, 14 and 15) in each campaign.

He has also nurtured youngsters at the Amex Stadium like Robert Sanchez and Ben White, both of whom are now internationals for Spain and England respectively, as well as right-back Tariq Lamptey, midfielder Steven Alzate and forward Aaron Connolly.

In Potter’s four matches against Everton as a manager, he has won and drawn one each and lost the other two.