Brighton & Hove Albion have identified Graham Potter as their No 1 target to replace Chris Hughton. The 43-year-old is the clear frontrunner to take over at Brighton, following their decision to sack Hughton less than 24 hours after their final game of the season, leaving Swansea with a major battle to hold on to the manager who has re-energised the Championship club since his appointment last summer.

Although Potter is Brighton’s favoured candidate and things could move quickly over the next 48 hours, with everything pointing to the former Ostersund manager swapping the Championship for the Premier League, it is understood that it is not a foregone conclusion that he will walk away from Swansea.

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Potter accepted that he was taking on a project when he was appointed Swansea manager and, even in the face of adversity, he has thrived on that challenge, leading the Welsh club to a 10th-place finish in the Championship and into the FA Cup quarter-finals, despite operating under huge financial constraints.

Sixteen players left the club in the wake of relegation from the Premier League and only five were signed. That imbalance left Potter with little option but to turn to graduates from the club’s academy, many of whom thrived in a team that not only finished in the top half of the table but also played attractive, freeflowing possession-based football. It is, in short, easy to see why Brighton have put Potter at the top of their list, bearing in mind the success he enjoyed in Sweden too with Östersund.

Quick guide Seagulls nosedive Show Hide When Brighton beat rivals Crystal Palace 3-1 in December, they were in the top half on 21 points after 15 games. They went on to pick up just three wins and six draws from their remaining 23 matches – a run that cost Chris Hughton his job. December:

Burnley (A) L 0-1

Chelsea (H) L 1-2

Bournemouth (A) L 0-2

Arsenal (H) D 1-1

Everton (H) W 1-0 January:

West Ham (H) D 2-2

Liverpool (H) L 0-1

Man Utd (A) L 1-2

Fulham (A) L 2-4 February:

Watford (H) D 0-0

Burnley (H) L 1-3

Leicester (A) L 1-2 March:

Huddersfield (H) W 1-0

Crystal Palace (A) W 2-1

Southampton (H) L 0-1 April:

Chelsea (A) L 0-3

Bournemouth (H) L 0-5

Cardiff (H) L 0-2

Wolves (A) D 0-0

Tottenham (H) L 1-0

Newcastle (H) D 1-1 May:

Arsenal (A) D 1-1

Man City (H) L 1-4 Photograph: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images Europe

The question is just how big a play Swansea’s owners are willing to make to try to keep hold of Potter, and whether they are prepared to back him in a way that means he believes he has a genuine opportunity to get the club back into the Premier League. That does not mean spending millions and millions – Swansea have a sizeable financial hole to fill and there is an acceptance that Daniel James will depart this summer – but, realistically, Potter is not going to turn down the chance to manage Brighton unless he feels that he has a fighting chance of succeeding at the Liberty Stadium.

Hughton was dismissed on the back of Brighton’s poor run of form in 2019. The club stayed up by only two points, after winning two league games since the turn of the year. The chairman, Tony Bloom, said: “Undoubtedly, this has been one of the most difficult decisions I have had to make as chairman of Brighton & Hove Albion, but ultimately one I have made due to how we struggled in the second half of the season. Our run of three wins from 23 Premier League matches put our status at significant risk. It is with that in mind, and the performances during that period, that I now feel it’s the right time for a change.”