Next Brighton Manager: The latest candidates to replace Graham Potter with 'new favourite' confirmation as talks progress

Albion chairman Tony Bloom and his chief executive Paul Barber will continue talks this week as they whittle down candidates for the vacant head coach position.

Numerous contenders are said to be in the frame – from the established Premier League names such as Brendan Rodgers and Mauricio Pochettino to the unfamiliar.

Lens boss Franck Haise remains the favourite with the bookies having impressed in the French top flight. The 51-year-old steered Lens to promotion in 2020 and they currently sit just two points off Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1.

Norwegian coach Kjetil Knutsen is another name who has attracted plenty of interest in recent seasons.The 53-year-old has been linked to a number of Premier League clubs but continues his fine work at Bodo/Glimt.

He has guided them to back-to-back titles and been named coach of the year three seasons in a row in his homeland. Knutsen gained wider recognition last season when he led the club to the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League, which included thumping Jose Mourinho’s Roma – the eventual winners – 6-1 in the group stage.

Brighton are also said to have held talks with Roberto Di Zerbi. The Italian is out of work having been forced to leave previous club FC Shakhtar Donetsk, following the Russina invasion.

Di Zerbi, 43, made his name as a coach in Serie A with Sassuolo, where he gained a reputation for developing talent and playing attractive football – both qualitites sought after by Brighton.

Mainz Danish boss Bo Svensson is also thought to be a person of interest and he said yesterday that he was “flattered” to be link

Any potential new manager at Brighton will inherit a talented squad and a team flying high in fourth place in the Premier League. It’s an attractive prospect but also a tough role as Potter – despite a few poor run of results during his time – set the standard pretty high.

Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper is also under consideration, while Rodgers and Pochettino remain among the contenders.

Albion chief Barber said: "Culturally, we want a good fit, the sort of person that fits into the style in which we operate."That's really important, because we have a defined culture at the club and a particular way of working. The head coach has to fit into that."Secondly, we made a big point when we moved from Chris [Hughton] to Graham [Potter] about the style of football we wanted to play.“We have shifted the style of football that we play. I think people would agree that it is an attractive style of football to watch. It has yielded good results for us, so we certainly want to continue that."Also, the combination that we've been to able to use of very experienced players and younger players coming through, either from our academy or outside the club as we develop them either through loans or bringing them into our system more slowly, is important to us as well, because it fits our model and the way we want to progress as a a club."

Here’s the latest favourites for the role, courtesy of Oddschecker:

Franck Haise 1/1

Kjetil Knutsen 3/1

Bo Svensson 6/1

Steve Cooper 7/1

Roberto De Zerbi 8/1

Ange Postecoglou 14/1

Brendan Rodgers 22/1

Maurico Pochettino 25/1

Vitor Pereira 33/1

Roberto Martinez 50/1