3 best and 2 worst transfer deals negotiated by Marina Granovskaia at Chelsea
Chelsea, under the new leadership of American owner Todd Boehly, have decided to let go of club director Marina Granovskaia. This is among the few changes being made within the Blues board.
The Russian-Canadian businesswoman has been at Chelsea since 2010, serving the club in various capacities. She was a representative of former Blues owner Roman Abramovich and was also a member of the board.
However, Marina is best known for being the main person in charge of transfer negotiations as well as contract dealings at the club.
She is known to have spearheaded some brilliant transfers for the West London club in recent years, which have brought success on and off the pitch.
A key figure at Chelsea Football Club for over 10 years, involved for the entire Abramovich era. She didn’t always get it right, but undoubtedly negotiated some of our greatest transfers.
Thank you for everything, Marina Granovskaia. https://t.co/0tD2Ed6ba7
Marina's hard work in her administrative capacity at Chelsea saw her win the Best Club Director of European Football award in 2021.
Despite her doggedness in transfer dealings with other clubs and agents, she hasn't been entirely flawless in the transfer market.
As such, this article will take a look at some of Marina's best and worst transfer deals being negotiated at Chelsea.
Best transfer deals under Marina at Chelsea
Will be looking at a few top notch transfers the Russian-Canadian businesswoman was able to negotiate in her capacity as club director.
#3 Buying Mateo Kovacic from Real Madrid (€45 Million)
In the summer of 2019, Marina was able to help Chelsea secure a top transfer deal for Croatian midfielder Kovacic from Real Madrid.
The deal was one which brought huge success for the Blues both on and off the pitch. Kovacic sealed a permanent move to Stamford Bridge after initially spending the 2017-2018 season on loan.
Mateo Kovacic joins Chelsea on a full time basis as part of his pre agreement with real madrid and Chelsea agreed before Chelseas transfer ban welcome to Chelsea Mateo https://t.co/jDecmqwKuj
Chelsea paid €45 million for his transfer from Real Madrid, which was considerably fair for a player of Kovacic's caliber. Also, in the current transfer market, which is highly inflated, it was a good bargain.
The Blues got instant value for their money as Kovacic went on to win the club's Player of the Season for the 2019-20 football campaign.
#2 Selling Diego Costa to Atletico Madrid (€60 million)
Another top transfer deal that Marina was able to secure for Chelsea during her time as the club's director was definitely Diego Costa's return to Spain.
Considering the situation surrounding the former Chelsea striker during the 2017-18 football season, one would have thought that it would be difficult to offload the striker.
However, Marina was able to come up with another transfer master-class, as Atletico Madrid paid above €60 million to land Costa in January 2017.
Atlético Madrid have agreed a £58.2m fee with Chelsea to re-sign Diego Costa. He'll be registered on January 1st. (Source: Cadena COPE) https://t.co/arUxXsZQfT
Recall that the Brazilian striker was frozen out of the Chelsea team after he fell out with then-club manager Antonio Conte. Costa even refused to return to West London as he was bent on leaving the Blues.
Under Marina's watch, Chelsea were able to make an impressive profit of €22 million from the sale of Costa, despite the difficult circumstances. The Blues initially paid a sum of €38 million to sign the striker in 2014.
#1 Selling Eden Hazard to Real Madrid (£135 million)
Very few clubs will be able to sell a player for a club-record fee with barely less than a year left on his contract. However, Marina made that happen in 2019 when Hazard joined Real Madrid.
Chelsea sold their most prized asset in Hazard during the summer of 2019 for an incredible £135 million, (with add-ons included).
Marina was the brains behind the transfer, as the Belgian was very much keen on moving to Spain after seven seasons in West London. She made sure Chelsea got the best deal from the transfer.
Eden Hazard knew he was leaving Chelsea WAY back 👋
“I'd made my mind up after the World Cup. I said to myself: ‘I have to join Real Madrid now'. That wasn't possible so I spent another year at Chelsea. That made my departure easier. The club understood & allowed me to leave.” https://t.co/t3wyX8IUS5
The profit made from the sale of Hazard in 2019 is arguably the biggest in the club's history, as he was bought for €38 million in 2012.
Worst transfer deals under Marina
While the former Chelsea club director looked almost flawless on the negotiating table, she still had a few misses. Here are a couple of them.
#2 Buying Kepa Arrizabalaga from Atletico Bilbao (€80 million)
One transfer that most Chelsea fans couldn’t wrap their heads around was that of Kepa from Atletico Bilbao in the summer of 2018.
The Blues had just lost Belgian shot-stopper Thibaut Courtois to Real Madrid barely a few weeks into the start of the 2018-19 campaign.
The London club were on the lookout for a new goalkeeper with less capable hands available in the market as at the time.
This led Chelsea under the supervision of Marina to do what most fans and pundits would classify as a 'panic buy'. The Blues splashed out a world-record fee of £71.6 million to land Kepa that summer.
Chelsea have broken the world record transfer fee for a goalkeeper by signing Kepa Arrizabalaga from Athletic Bilbao for £71.6m on a seven-year deal.
Full story: skysports.tv/We5x5M https://t.co/vZ1fFZ6jd7
The Spanish shot stopper had potential, no doubt, but the transfer fee was definitely inflated. Also, judging by his performances at Chelsea since arriving, it's safe to say that the transfer did not work out well for Marina.
#1 Romelu Lukaku's move to Chelsea in 2021 (£97.5 million)
Arguably one of the biggest misses under Marina's supervision will be the transfer of Belgian striker Lukaku from Inter Milan in 2021.
The Blues broke their very own transfer record to re-sign their former striker for a whooping £97.5 million last summer.
While expectations were high that the Blues would get a lot of value for money from the Lukaku deal, the reverse has been the case.
The striker struggled to justify the heavy sum of money spent to secure his services during the 2021-22 football season.
#CFC #Inter
Lukaku’s salary will be around €8m.
Romelu Lukaku returns to Inter, here we go and confirmed! Full agreement now signed on loan deal until June 2023, €8 loan fee plus add-ons. ⚫️🔵 #CFC #Inter
▫️ Lukaku’s salary will be around €8m.
▫️ NO buy option or obligation clause.
▫️ Add-ons related to team performances. https://t.co/3sEeQtfXs0
With less than a year since Chelsea broke their transfer record to sign the Belgian forward, he is now on loan back to Inter Milan. The Italian club paid €8 million plus add-ons for the Blues' club record signing.