Premier League giants Chelsea are left in the trenches in the aftermath of loved owner Roman Abramovich being forced to put the club up for sale.

The political and social connections that exist between Abramovich – a Russian oligarch – and President Vladimir Putin are too great to ignore given the recent horrific Russian invasion of Ukraine, forcing the club owner to have to make preparations to part ways with his position as owner of Chelsea.

Newcastle director Amanda Staveley has even recently spoken out around the situation with Abramovich and his need to put all his UK-based assets up for sale before they were seized by the government, and on the back of that, Chelsea may now have to contend with the loss of director Marina Granovskaia as well according to The Mirror.

Granovskaia has been a prodigy in the making for the Blues in recent years in the way she has guided the club in the transfer market, spearheading moves for players the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Kai Havertz, Ben Chilwell, Diego Costa, and Fernando Torres, while brokering the club’s current kit deal with Nike, fostering the connection to Eredivisie outfit SBV Vitesse, and championing the development and focus of the Cobham academy set up which has become arguably the top youth production line in England.

Should Granovskaia depart the club of her own volition, it would leave arguably the most influential role at the club vacant for whichever ownership consortium or a single entity comes in to fill.

Transfer task ahead of new potential director at Chelsea

Should Marina Granovskaia depart the club, the new director to take her place is already tasked with the job of replacing the current key center back Andreas Christensen.

The Danish international is all but lined up for a free move to Spanish giants Barcelona in the summer in a free transfer once his contract with Chelsea winds down at the end of the current season.

With his departure all but secured, the Blues can currently count on just Thiago Silva, Malang Sarr, and academy graduate Trevoh Chalobah given the fact that German international Antonio Rüdiger could also leave in the summer as he has yet to agree to a contract extension at Stamford Bridge.

Rüdiger’s representatives are said to be in constant discussions with both Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain according to Sky Sports, and if the German also could head for the exit door, the task to rebuild the Chelsea backline would be a considerable one.