Brighton boss Graham Potter points accusing finger, as he rebuffs Tottenham talk

Brighton boss Graham Potter has dismissed talk suggesting he could replace Antonio Conte as Tottenham head coach and has pointed an accusing finger at the media.

Potter has emerged as the favourite to take over at Spurs, should the Italian depart this summer. The Telegraph, have claimed the Seagulls manager is the frontrunner for the Tottenham Hotspur job if Conte decides to leave.

The Italian’s deal expires at the end of next season after he signed an 18-month contract in November. But he has refused publicly to commit to Spurs beyond this season.

Much of that will depend where Tottenham finish this season. And what sort of backing he receives from Daniel Levy in the transfer market.

French champions Paris St Germain though continue to be linked with the Italian.

Potter meanwhile has seen his stock rise again this season after he was linked with Spurs last summer.

He has guided the Seagulls to their highest Premier League points tally this term. And he underlined his credentials with a 4-0 thrashing of Manchester United on Sunday.

And 46-year-old, whose Albion contract runs until 2025, has no thoughts of leaving the Amex Stadium.

“You guys (the media) sometimes put stuff in the newspapers that’s not exactly true,” said Potter.

“What can I say? It’s got to the point now where there’s not even a vacancy and you’re getting linked to it. I don’t know what to say.

“I’ve never said I want to leave at all.

“It wasn’t so long back that I was probably getting criticism. And if you’d gone on some local fan sites, I bet I wasn’t the flavour of the month, so things change pretty quickly – let’s not forget that.

“But I’ve always had the support of Tony (Bloom, Brighton owner) and the board and they’ve given me chance to work. So I’m grateful for that and I enjoy it here.”

Ninth-placed Albion are closing in on maiden top-half Premier League finish after dismantling United courtesy of goals from Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella, Pascal Gross and Leandro Trossard.

The south-coast club have 47 points. That is six more than they have managed in any of their previous seasons following promotion in 2017 – ahead of fixtures against Leeds and West Ham.

Former Ostersunds coach Potter concedes it will be tough to improve on a record-breaking campaign.

“The reality of it is the leagues are determined by resources and finance. Then you’ve got to think about how you can beat that,” he replied, when asked if there is a ceiling to what Brighton can achieve.

“And how you beat that is having an idea, aligning the idea to the resources you have, sticking together, working, trying to create something that is unique, that people can buy into and enjoy.

Potter up for Brighton challenge

“That’s what we achieved in Sweden for example – to get Ostersunds to the last 32 of the Europa League, I would say miracle is downplaying that a little bit.

“But it’s not just down to one person, it’s down to the whole club.”

Potter saw Ben White join Arsenal for £50m last summer before fellow defender Dan Burn moved to Newcastle in January.

Yet he is not concerned about the prospect of further departures.

“We’ve sold £65m’s worth of players in the last two windows. And we’ve managed to improve, so it can be done,” he said.

“I can’t sit here and say we’re going to keep all of our players for the next three years because it’s impossible. We have to be brave in that.

“We’re not desperate to do anything. But if people want to come and pay over the odds or big, big prices for our players then that’s life.”

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