Marina Granovskaia could still be part of Chelsea's future even without Roman

Marina Granovskaia, dubbed the most powerful woman in football, is facing a dilemma over her Chelsea future after owner Roman Abramovich put the club up for sale.

Telegraph Sport understands that groups interested in buying Chelsea would be open to the prospect of Granovskaia staying on under their ownership if she could cut her professional ties with Abramovich, which date back 20 years.

Granovskaia is listed as a director of Chelsea, but she has essentially run the football side of the business for Abramovich and has been considered the most powerful person at the club after the Russian billionaire. She has been the only person at Stamford Bridge, where she has an office, with a regular line in to Abramovich for some years now.

Abramovich's decision to sell the club has raised question marks over the future of Granovskaia, with many people assuming that, together with chairman Bruce Buck, she will leave with Abramovich.

But groups interested in buying Chelsea are aware of how highly rated Granovskaia is within football and recognise that her departure could represent a significant loss and leave a massive gap to be filled.

Seeing Granovskaia leave would also represent a blow to head coach Thomas Tuchel, who has struck up a close working relationship with her that was this season highlighted by the handling of Romelu Lukaku, when the club's record signing gave a controversial interview and was subsequently dropped for one game

Tuchel reports directly to Granovskaia and technical and performance advisor Petr Cech, who all share a strong working bond. Agents of players at Chelsea contacted Telegraph Sport within hours of our exclusive revelation that the club had been put up for sale to ask, among other things, what it would mean for Granovskaia.

Granovskaia's long and close association with Abramovich might need to be addressed

Groups interested in Chelsea do not believe that keeping Granovskaia would necessarily cause a political hot potato, insisting that being an employee of Abramovich, in isolation, does not make anybody's position untenable.

But the length of her association with Abramovich and the fact she has worked at some of his other companies may be an issue that would need to be addressed during any hand-over process. It would seem unlikely that Granovskaia would be able to retain the same level of power, at least in the short-term, even if her position at Chelsea and salary remained the same.

One source told Telegraph Sport: “Whenever you talk to anybody about Chelsea, Marina's name comes up and usually in glowing terms. The key issue will be whether she can be team Chelsea under a different owner or will always be team Roman.”

Granovskaia's future is likely to ultimately be decided by whether or not she is prepared to cut her professional ties with Abramovich to continue working at Chelsea under a new ownership, or whether she feels it is time for a change. She is not thought to have jumped to any decision over her future and will wait to see who takes over the club and hear their plans.

Sources around her do not believe Granovskaia would work at another English football club and it is unclear whether or not she would consider a job overseas. She has a long list of contacts all over the globe and would no doubt be offered positions were she to leave Chelsea.

From personal assistant to ally with great influence at Chelsea

A Russian-Canadian, Granovskaia graduated from Moscow State University and started work for Abramovich in 1997 at Sibneft, the oil company he then owned, before moving to England shortly after he bought Chelsea in 2003. 

Her role then was to set up Abramovich’s office in London and there was no initial plan for Granovskaia to work for Chelsea. But quickly she was asked to book tickets and organise boxes for the owner’s guests, and, as she made more contacts, so her influence grew. 

It was during this time that Abramovich started asking Granovskaia’s opinion on more football-related matters and the pair started to discuss the team. 

Chelsea insiders believe 2009 marked a turning point in Granovskaia’s input at Chelsea. Didier Drogba looked to be heading out of the club, following a turbulent season in which he had been dropped by Luiz Felipe Scolari and earned a European ban after clashing with referee Tom Henning Ovrebo at the end of the Champions League semi-final defeat to Barcelona. 

Not everybody inside Stamford Bridge wanted Drogba to stay, but Granovskaia was adamant the striker should be given a new contract and put her head on the block by promising she would take responsibility for any subsequent bad behaviour from the Ivorian. Drogba went on to play a huge part in Chelsea’s first Champions League success in 2012.

Granovskaia was instrumental in Drogba remaining at Stamford Bridge Credit: Hugh Hastings / Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC

Having taken the lead on football decisions, Granovskaia joined the Chelsea FC plc and Football Club boards in 2013 and has been in charge of the club’s transfers ever since, also negotiating contracts for first team and academy players, as well as organising the club’s loan army. Over recent years, she has also been more and more influential in the decisions to hire and fire head coaches.

Club lawyers believe Granovskaia can be responsible for 120 contracts, across all age groups, during a summer transfer window. Taking into account meetings with clubs, players, agents and parents, she will normally conduct over 500 negotiations. 

Granovskaia won an award for being named the best director in European football for 2021, during which she negotiated the £97.5 million signing of Lukaku from Inter Milan.

In an exclusive interview with Telegraph Sport, Lukaku’s agent Federico Pastorello said: “I’m proud to say I have a very good relationship with Marina and she is somebody I consider to be, 100 per cent, exceptional. She really is one of the best. 

“There is an image of Marina, but I’m lucky to know her in a different way. She is also a very sweet person and quite funny. She’s devoted to the job and to Chelsea, but I really admire how she balances that with how she manages her life outside football.”