Who is Bruno Saltor? Chelsea name unlikely interim head coach after Graham Potter sacking

Chelsea's decision to sack manager Graham Potter after just over six months in charge has seen an unlikely figure take charge of the club.

Potter, who himself replaced Thomas Tuchel last September, struggled to impress at Stamford Bridge with a 2-0 loss to Aston Villa the final straw for the Blues.

While Chelsea begin their search for a new long-term manager, the club have named an interim head coach in the form of Bruno Saltor.

The Spaniard is far from a household name and has in fact never managed a team before.

MORE: How much did Chelsea pay to sack Graham Potter?

Who is Bruno Saltor?

Saltor, known generally as Bruno, was born and raised in Spain.

The 42-year-old enjoyed a playing career that spanned two decades and saw him lineup as a right-back for the likes of Espanyol, Lleida, Almeria, Valencia and Brighton.

The defender moved to England in 2012 when he joined Brighton, who were in the Championship at the time.

Bruno spent seven seasons with the Seagulls and was part of the side promoted to the Premier League in 2017 before he hung up the boots in 2019.

Just months after retiring as a player, Bruno returned to Brighton as a senior player development coach under Graham Potter.

"I am aware of Bruno's influence at the club, both on and off the field, and we're delighted he's agreed to stay on in this new role," Potter said at the time.

Bruno remained in that position until September 2022 when he followed Potter to Chelsea and joined their coaching staff.

While Potter has now left the Blues, Bruno is staying behind for now to lead the team temporarily and get his first taste of being a manager.

"Along with our incredible fans, we will all be getting behind Bruno and the team as we focus on the rest of the season," co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali said in a statement.

"We have 10 Premier League games remaining and a Champions League quarter final ahead. We will put every effort and commitment into every one of those games so that we can end the season on a high."

According to The Telegraph, Potter gave Bruno and the rest of his coaching staff his blessing for them to remain at the club if they wished.

🇪🇸 Bruno Saltor

It is not an exaggeration to say that the former Brighton right-back is (or was, to some aggrieved #BHAFC fans) a club icon.

Interestingly, considering his career as a defender, Bruno concentrates more on attacking matters as a coach. pic.twitter.com/XTs9OiP05C

— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) September 29, 2022

Who will be next Chelsea manager?

With Potter's departure, Chelsea must now find a suitable replacement.

While Bruno Saltor has been named as interim head coach, the Blues will have their eyes on a more suitable long-term appointment.

Former Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann is a strong early favourite with the German available and reportedly of interest to Chelsea bosses.

Mauricio Pochettino has also been linked along with Sporting's Ruben Amorim.

Premier League 2022/23 TV channels, live streams

UK: Matches are carried across Sky Sports and BT Sport streaming and TV platforms, with select matches on Amazon Prime.

USA: Select matches are televised on USA Network (English) and Telemundo or Universo (Spanish), and all three channels can be streamed on Fubo. The rest of the matches are streamed on NBC platform Peacock for subscribers.

Canada: Every Premier League game this season is live streaming exclusively via Fubo in Canada.

Australia: Fans in Australia can stream every match live and on demand on Optus Sport.

India: Star Sports network has the rights to show Premier League matches in India. As well as an English broadcast on Star Sports Select, select matches will be available via regional feeds on Star Sports 3 (in Bengali, English, Kannada, Malayalam), Star Sports 1 (Bangla) and Star Sports 1 (Tamil).