Chelsea FC Transfers: Profiling Marina Granovskaia
She is the invisible force behind Chelsea FC transfer dealings, so who exactly is Marina Granovskaia?
Chelsea FC have made some marquee signings over the years. While the first six or seven campaigns of the Roman Abramovich era was tainted with accusations of unlimited funds and a buy-success attitude, recently the Blues have shown to be relatively shrewd operators in the transfer market. This has coincided with the rise to prominence of a certain Marina Granovskaia. So who exactly is she?
POPULAR: Jose Mourinho To Take Charge Of 300th Chelsea FC Game On Sunday
Currently she is regarded as Roman’s right-hand woman. His representative and a lady whom he implicitly trusts with his business matters. From what little information that is available, Granovskaia’s links with Chelsea’s owner appear to stretch back to 1997.
Born in Russia, she joined one of Abramovich’s former oil interests, Sibneft, soon after graduating from Moscow State University in 1997. The Times [print edition] states that dual Russian-Canadian national subsequently moved to London in 2003 and joined Millhouse Capital, a fact confirmed by her tightly-secured Facebook account.
This is of particular importance as Millhouse Capital is the firm set up by Abramovich and his business partners to manage their several interests. This is perhaps where she got to know the billionaire personally, while becoming increasingly trusted by him.
In fact, the club website has a biography of the secretive Russian lady that could be easily described as vague. However, it does reveal that she has acted as the owner’s ‘senior adviser’ over the last 18 years, ‘looking after his various assets and interests.’
More from Chelsea FC News
- Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 1 Blue Mauricio Pochettino should drop
- Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 3 Blues who must start
- Predicted Chelsea lineup vs Bournemouth: Palmer starts in 4-2-3-1
- Chelsea sporting directors finally reveal why they sign so many young players
- These 3 new signings may never get a game at Chelsea
Granovskaia became Roman’s personal representative in 2010, and in the process got more and more involved in Chelsea FC’s matters.
Her association with Chelsea was formalised in 2013, when she was appointed to the board of both Chelsea FC plc (the entity that owns the club) as well as the football club itself.
However, her influence was significant even before these appointments, and she is supposedly responsible for a number of interesting developments in Chelsea’s recent history. Writing in the aforementioned Times article, Rory Smith claims that Granovskaia has been in charge of the club’s transfer negotiations for the last three years. He also attributes her for the creation of the bizarre (yet beneficial) loan relationship that the Blues have in place with Vitesse Arnhem.
Furthermore, Granovskaia has been credited with brokering the incredible deal that saw Chelsea receive £50million in return for David Luiz, as well as the one that saw Juan Mata move to Manchester United for £38m.
She’s not only good at selling players either. Granovskaia negotiated the agreement that brought Diego Costa to Stamford Bridge for £30m, and really showed her value this past week as Chelsea signed both Abdul Baba Rahman and Pedro.
RELATED: Chelsea FC: Pedro Speaks On His Transfer
The Pedro deal is the one that explicitly illustrates why Abramovich rates her so highly. Granovskaia led the team who miraculously snatched the Spaniard from under the noses of Louis Van Gaal and Ed Woodward. While the full story of how it went down sounds like something that should be made into a film, if it were to happen this lady would be taking the lead role.
Still not impressed? Granovskaia was also the person who pushed Abramovich to authorise the return of Jose Mourinho. Moreover, she was the one who was sent to mend the bridges between the pair and thus could be ultimately credited with bringing The Special One back to West London.
When Ron Gourlay stepped down from the Chelsea board in 2014, many people familiar with the Blues set-up touted Granovskaia as the next CEO of the club. Roman Abramovich hasn’t yet installed someone as a direct replacement, but all indications are that his mysterious Russian adviser has effectively assumed the role.
To this point, an unnamed source speaking to The Evening Standard confirmed that Granovskaia really does pull the strings behind the scenes.
"“She is basically the power at Chelsea. Roman trusts her implicitly. She’s not interested in being a celebrity but there is no doubt who’s in charge and who call [sic] the shots.”"
Technical Director Michael Emenalo is often cited as the man behind Chelsea’s transfer activities, but that simply is not the case. The shy, yet influential Russian-Canadian by the name of Marina Granovskaia is truly The Special One around Stamford Bridge.
I’ll leave with you with a quote from Rory Smith’s article:
"She is often described as the most powerful woman in football, as though she is some sort of novelty act. That is missing the point. She is better thought of as one of the most powerful people in football."
Next: Chelsea FC: Look At How Many Trophies Pedro Has Won