Marina Granovskaia makes decision on Chelsea future after Bruce Buck departure | Soccer

The west London club announced on Monday that their long-time chairman, who has held the post since Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003, would step down at the end of the month.

Co-owner Todd Boehly had hoped to persuade Buck to stay, but is now set to take the reins himself as chairman.

Chelsea’s new owners – a consortium majority-funded by investment firm Clearlake Capital – had also hoped to keep Granovskaia at Stamford Bridge and had extensive talks with the Canadian-Russian.

Considered one of the best operators in football, Granovskaia was widely respected both in the Premier League and across Europe and was responsible for negotiating Chelsea’s transfer deal.

This responsibility is now shared between Boehly and manager Thomas Tuchel, who are taking on the duties of the outgoing director.

It’s not yet clear when Granovskaia will leave but it is now expected to be before the window closes, meaning Boehly will also be tasked with negotiating this summer’s transfers – something he already does does while negotiating Romelu Lukaku’s loan return to Inter.

Granovskaia’s impending departure is a huge blow to Chelsea and hasn’t given them enough time to hire a sporting director to take their responsibilities, with Atletico Madrid’s Andrea Berta believed to be the front-runner.

There are also question marks over the future of Petr Cech, who acts as the club’s technical and performance advisor and advises on transfers.

He, too, could decide to leave Stamford Bridge following the change of ownership, although his ties to the previous regime and to Roman Abramovich are less strong than Granovskaia, who has worked for the Russian oligarch since the late 1990s and was considered his de facto head of staff .

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