Rio Ferdinand claims Thomas Tuchel's successor at Chelsea will be a 'downgrade'

Rio Ferdinand 'can't understand' why Chelsea have sacked Thomas Tuchel, and has questioned who could do a better job than the German coach.

Tuchel was relieved of his duties on Wednesday morning after losing his final match in charge against Dinamo Zagreb the previous evening. He leaves Chelsea having won the Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup during his 20 months in charge.

Results have spiralled in recent weeks, with the Blues losing three away games on the trot, but Ferdinand still thinks Tuchel deserved more time to turn things around.

'He has a 60% win rate, a lot of managers would be delighted to have that,' Ferdinand said on his FIVE YouTube channel.

'It's a giant statement from Todd Boehly and his new regime.'

Boehly only became Chelsea owner at the end of May, but he has already made a huge decision to get rid of Tuchel - who will receive a £15m pay-out, £2m of which will go to his coaching staff.

Ferdinand has admitted that he has previously got the sense that there had been some tension behind the scenes between owner and manager, but he was still shocked by the news that Tuchel had been sacked.

'I interviewed him (Tuchel) last week, I went to Chelsea’s training ground last week, I’ve got a really good relationship with Thomas Tuchel.

'I said: "what’s it like with new ownership?" He said: "it’s not worse, it’s not better, it’s just new." Those are his comments. It obviously wasn’t perfect behind the scenes because he would’ve said "nah, it’s brilliant etc" but he was very open and honest and that’s what I love about him.'

Graham Potter has emerged as Chelsea's first-choice option to succeed Tuchel, and the west London club have been given permission to speak to the Englishman.

Ferdinand respects the job that Potter has done at Brighton, but doubts whether he would be an improvement on Tuchel, and he is not fully convinced that Potter would even take the Stamford Bridge hotseat.

'Anybody who comes in now, you would think is a downgrade on Tuchel,' Ferdinand added.

'Graham Potter has done a fantastic job and will be called by bigger clubs than Brighton. But would he take it? He has a clear identity but the question is would he be able to handle the experienced players?

'Tuchel is a proper manager. He is honest and direct. He has clarity on how he wants to play and I can't understand it. It doesn't make sense to me.'