Chelsea billionaire owner, Todd Boehly appoints himself as interim sporting director and chairman of the club's board

Chelsea owner, Todd Boehly has installed himself as interim sporting director and chairman of the club’s board after the club confirmed the departure of Marina Granovskaia and Bruce Buck.

The Blues have announced that Granovskaia, who oversaw Chelsea’s recruitment under former Roman Abramovich, will follow ex-chairman Bruce Buck in leaving the Stamford Bridge club.

The American billionaire will take over Granovskaia’s role in an interim capacity, with Chelsea intending to find “a full-time replacement”.

The new co-owner was named as chairman of the board, with eight other appointments to Chelsea’s leadership team confirmed.

These are:

Behdad Eghbali, Jose Feliciano, and James Pade, managing partners of Clearlake Capital
Mark Walter, owner of Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Lakers, and Los Angeles Sparks
Hansjorg Wyss, founder of the Wyss Foundation
Jonathan Goldstein, CEO of Cain International
Barbara Charone, director of MBC PR
Daniel Finkelstein, former executive editor of The Times

A Chelsea statement released on Wednesday morning said: “Boehly has been named chairman of the board of Chelsea FC effective immediately.

“The announcement includes the departure of Marina Granovskaia, director of Chelsea FC.

“Boehly will operate as interim sporting director until the club names a full-time replacement, continuing the club’s work towards its targets during the current transfer window.

“Chelsea FC and Ms. Granovskaia have agreed that she will remain available to Boehly and the club for the duration of the current transfer window, to the extent required to support the transition.”

“We thank Marina for her many years of excellent service to the club and wish her all the best in her future ventures,” said Boehly.