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| Graham Potter embraces Kalidou Koulibaly of Chelsea after their sides draw during the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Chelsea FC at Brentford Community Stadium on October 19, 2022 in Brentford, England. |
Graham Potter confirmed that Kalidou Koulibaly will miss Chelsea’s clash with Red Bull Salzburg in the Champions League on Tuesday due to injury, but added that he hopes to have the Senegal international back in training later this week.
Koulibaly was left out of Chelsea’s match day squad for Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge after feeling discomfort in his knee against Brentford three days earlier, and has remained at Cobham to work on his recovery while Potter brought a 21-man squad to Salzburg.
“It’s not too serious,” Potter said when asked about Koulibaly’s injury. “This is game is too soon for him but we’re hopeful of getting him onto the grass on Wednesday or Thursday.”
Potter also spoke positively about Red Bull’s success with a multi-club ownership model, after Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly last month revealed that he would like to emulate it by acquiring a club in Portugal or France to facilitate player development.
Chelsea have also been aggressive in trying to recruit senior figures from Red Bull’s organisation. RB Leipzig CEO Oliver Mintzlaff and Red Bull Salzburg sporting director Christoph Freund both turned down approaches from Boehly and Clearlake Capital, but Christopher Vivell has accepted an offer to become technical director at Stamford Bridge.
“I think they’ve done it really really well,” Chelsea’s head coach added. “They’ve had fantastic success, they’ve got a clear identity of how they want to play, and that gives them clarity in terms of what they’re looking for and how they align their resources. It’s there to see from the clubs they have, they’ve done it really really well.”
Asked if he felt Red Bull’s model could be replicated in English football, Potter replied: “Of course. Essentially it’s an idea and everyone’s aligned with it. Whatever the name is, you can certainly replicate the philosophical idea behind it.”
