Changes in club heirarchy
Marina Granovskaia has either bought or sold almost €2.4 billion worth of players since she arrived at Chelsea in 2013 but according to the Telegraph, the director of the Stamford Bridge side is about to relinquish her control of the Premier League giants. Following the resignation of CEO Bruce Buck, Granovskaia will seemingly be just the latest member of the club’s hierarchy under Roman Abramovich to leave this year.
The 47-year-old administrator has been in charge of transfers and contract negotiations for almost 10 years, with the club’s net spend on buying players sitting just under €1.4b – the most expensive of which being former youth player and current flop Romelu Lukaku. However, while the Belgium international may be a high-profile mistake, the club’s many successes in the transfer window under Granovskaia far outweigh the handful of risks that didn’t work out. Much of that being offset by €1.03b in player sales since 2013 – only Juventus have managed to make more money from player sales in the same period of time. According to the Telegraph report, the new owner Todd Boehly and manager Thomas Tuchel are now primarily responsible for the transfer plans.
New owner and new plans – Chelsea set for drastic changes under Boehly & Co.
A consortium led by US businessman Boehly bought the London club for £2.5bn earlier in the year and the investors committed to investing a further £1.75bn in the club. This summer, the new owners want to make around €235m available for new transfers, according to numerous reports in England. While Antonio Rüdiger (29, Real Madrid) and Andreas Christensen (26) have left on free transfers, the club have yet to make any additions this summer.
Lukaku at the top: Chelsea FC record signings
Instead, the club remains focused on departures, where Lukaku’s reported return to Inter Milan on loan continues to gain speed. Meanwhile, sports director Andrea Berta from Atlético Madrid is reportedly one of the first additions the new owners hope to make to the backroom staff. Tuchel probably already knew what to expect at the end of May when he gave up the idea of taking a break: “It’s impossible, I can’t go on vacation. We want to stay in contention with Liverpool and Manchester City and they will do everything to expand their squads. They set the standard high.” Under Granovskaia, Chelsea undoubtedly met those standards with two Premier League titles, as well as winning the Champions League, Europa League, FA Cup, English League Cup and FIFA Club World Cup once each. Whether the club’s new owners and backroom staff can match such success remains to be seen.
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