'Switch my phone off' – Brighton chief reveals very first conversation with Todd Boehly on Graham Potter to Chelsea move

Potter was swiftly installed as Tuchel's replacement – along with the entire backroom coaching team of assistant Billy Reid, first-team coaches Bjorn Hamberg and Bruno, goalkeeping coach Ben Roberts and assistant head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay – prompting speculation that Chelsea had been in talks with Potter – or the club – for sometime.

Barber, however, said, "No, it was on the (Wednesday) morning that Thomas Tuchel lost his job. I took a call from Todd Boehly.

"My first reaction was to switch my phone off. It was something that we had been aware of the possibility for some time in terms of potentially losing Graham.

"You don't do as well as he has done over a consistent period of time, three years, without getting attention and getting a profile perhaps much bigger than when you arrive.

"We always knew that losing Graham to a bigger club or even the national team if Gareth [Southgate] ever left his job was a possibility. It's just part and parcel of the game. “The timing was far from ideal but we are where we are."

Brighton took a chance and appointed Potter from Swansea in 2019. Potter impressed from the start but also had some difficult moments and long periods of losing runs.

Potter always enjoyed the full backing of Barber and the board during that period and asked if he could expect the same at Chelsea, Barber added: "That's a question for Graham and not me."

The pace of Potter’s exit caught many by surprise and fans were shocked at the timing as Albion have enjoyed a flying start to the season and are fourth in the Premier League.

Under-21 coach Andrew Crofts took the role of Albion’s interim head coach, supported by his assistant Shannon Ruth, set-play coach Nick Stanley, Adam Lallana and assistant goalkeeping coach Jack Stern.

"It was disappointing and the timing was far from ideal, I’m not going to try and shy away from the facts,” Barber added.

“It has happened.You have two choices. When something like this happens, you can either panic and run for the hills or you can face up to the challenge you have got, which is to deal with it calmly and professionally.

“Make sure first you put into place your interim plan, which we did with Andrew and with Shannon, with Nick and with Adam Lallana.

“Those guys stepped up fantastically and at very short notice to take training and then to be prepared for the game against Bournemouth, which of course did not happen.

“That’s the resilience and the planning that I talked about. We have these structures for lots of different reasons.

“Normal business and then exceptional business like this.

“Those guys were exceptional in the way they stepped up and their professionalism and their diligence to prepare for the game on Saturday.”