Chelsea’s Marina Granovskaia named the Best Club Director in European football

Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia has been one of the focal driving forces in Chelsea’s dominance on the game since 2013, especially when it comes to transfer dealings. And yet, the person who is practically responsible for running the club, and is second only to Roman Abramovich — who is in London currently — in the hierarchy, has preferred to work in the background and away from the limelight.

Therefore, it was quite the positive change to see her get some acknowledgement for her work, with Italian outlet Tuttosport naming her the ‘Best European Manager’ — akin to director — for the year 2021 at the Golden Boy awards.

The Golden Boy awards began in 2003, and also sees prizes given to the best player and best young player in Europe. Robert Lewandowski and Pedri were announced today as this year’s winners respectively.

Granovskaia’s influence on player transactions and contracts is well-known, with Chelsea’s net spend in the transfer market since 2013 being less than €350m. That places us eighth on the list, with Manchester City spending almost three times as much in the same period (even West Ham United have spent more in the same period!). Even this summer, the club managed to stay on the positive side of net transfer spend, with over €40m in transfer income, despite the record €115m arrival of Romelu Lukaku.

Chelsea’s wage bill in 2019-20 was 4th amongst the Premier League clubs, and 8th across Europe, which lends another testament to Granovskaia’s ability to get the best possible deals that have brought about success with relatively less spending. Chelsea have won 7 trophies under her tenure, including the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup this year.

Congratulations to Marina Granovskaia and may she continue to drive our transfer business for many more years to come!