Marina Granovskaia expected to leave Chelsea after Bruce Buck
By Tom Gott
Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia is expected to leave the club in the near future following confirmation of Bruce Buck's departure as chairman.
The Blues have already confirmed that Buck's 19-year reign as chairman will come to an end later this month - the American has still been retained as a 'senior advisor' - with new owner Todd Boehly expected to take his position.
Buck's exit came shortly after Guy Laurence left his role as chief executive and now The Telegraph state that Granovskaia will soon follow them through the exit door.
Granovskaia has effectively run Chelsea in recent years, calling the shots and reporting back to former owner Roman Abramovich for final approval, and was recently named the best club director in European football at the annual Golden Boy awards.
She has been an integral figure in Chelsea's transfer negotiations and, should she leave before the end of the summer window as expected, then the Blues would need to find a new way to proceed with signings.
Boehly has been negotiating the departure of Romelu Lukaku to Inter and will likely retain that influence up until a new director of football can be found.
There have been links to Atletico Madrid’s Andrea Berta, but Boehly is yet to decide the final make-up of his new-look board.
It is unclear what the future holds for Petr Cech, who was hired by Granovskaia as technical and performance advisor. The legendary former goalkeeper has been asked to stay by Boehly but it remains to be seen whether he will accept.