Chelsea’s jaw dropping January spending has the whole footballing world talking, and not in a positive way.
Whether from jealousy or just plain discomfort at the vulgarity of such enormous sums sloshing around, it’s generated discussion all over, and Potter’s interview before Friday night’s game was heavily focused on it.
His comments have since been followed up on the Chelsea website, where the manager explained his thoughts in a typically Potter-ish way.
“We’ve spent the money we’ve spent. The media aren’t going to let that go under the radar. All of football will be singing that song, that’s for sure. Everybody is entitled to their opinion. There’s free speech, which is good. I don’t worry about that,” the former Brighton coach mused.
“Envy isn’t a good quality to have. I’ve never been envious of anybody. I’ve tried to work and do the best I can in the circumstances I have,” Potter continued.
“You’re best to compare to yourself rather than somebody else because you don’t know the context or the situation. I also understand that’s the world we’re in, and that’s fine by me.”
It must be a strange change of gear for a manager who started in the depths of the Swedish leagues. He could never have imagined that one day he’d be in charge of a club so massive that their spending causes problems with their rivals.
But one thing is for sure – more spending means more pressure on Potter.
