Chelsea suffered a shocking 2-1 defeat to Southampton last month, which added to part of former boss Thomas Tuchel’s crisis at the club.

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has reacted to Chelsea’s decision to sign up Graham Potter after sacking Thomas Tuchel.

Potter replaced Thomas Tuchel as Chelsea manager on Thursday, having been in charge of Brighton since 2019.

Potter’s reputation has massively improved with the job he has done with the Seagulls, and Hasenhuttl has congratulated his colleague for a massive rise in his career.

Hasenhuttl believes Potter is a good coach and a good choice for the job.

On Chelsea’s appointment of Potter, Hasenhuttl said: “I must congratulate them on a very good choice, he is for me the manager in the past two seasons that has had the biggest impact on a club.

“With all the limits they have and the transfers they gave away to other clubs, to still compete on the highest level shows how good this group was.

“I know Pascal Gross who plays there and we speak often about the development of this club, he does a good job and has all the knowledge to step into a top club.”

He added: “It is a clear signal that there are also good English managers out there, and he was also working in foreign countries to get experience. He was looking for other options to learn and develop his knowledge, and this is a very good way of doing it.”

On the sacking of Thomas Tuchel, Hasenhuttl continued: “In football, things sometimes change very quickly. What everybody has seen is what a fantastic manager Tuchel is and what a job he has done there.

“I can remember him coming in and immediately he had a big impact with his group. He changed immediately the whole behaviour of the club, playing good football and winning the Champions League.

“Then if somebody else decides you get more out of this group than you do, then change is happening in this business.

“We all know this when we sign a contract somewhere, you know in some moments the next one is right out your door waiting for your job.”