While much of Chelsea's uncertainty has dissipated after Todd Boehly's consortium completed their takeover from Roman Abramovich, the future of Marina Granovksaia remains unresolved.
A long-term colleague of Abramovich's, Granovskaia has been central to the Blues' transfer strategy in recent seasons, but with a new regime in town, speculation remains over whether she will stay or not. Reports recently emerged that the Russian could make a statement on that topic in the coming days.
Chelsea are set to be one of the busiest clubs in the Premier League this summer. Sevilla centre-back Jules Kounde remains a top target to bolster the back line while the future of Romelu Lukaku is set to dominate headlines for the summer. But according to journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, both will likely hang in the balance until Granovskaia's future is resolved one way or the other.
READ MORE: Todd Boehly can repeat Juan Mata transfer trick to start Chelsea rebuild with £34m double deal
"It depends now on who will decide the future of Chelsea," Di Marzio said in an interview with wettfreunde. "If Marina Granovskaia will stay or not. If she stays, I don't think, knowing how she fought to have Lukaku with Inter last summer, [she will] say, 'you can go to Inter on loan without an option to buy.'
"I think it's really, really difficult, but in football transfers, you can never say impossible. If Lukaku says, 'oh, I will go only to Inter otherwise, I'll not come back', then it depends on the club's position in Lukaku's situation. Obviously, Inter is waiting. If they see little possibility of having Lukaku, they will try to get him.
"Kounde, they wanted to get him last year too. They tried a lot, and it was nearly done, and due to some problems, it collapsed. Kounde is a top player, top defender in Europe.
"It depends on the project of the new chairman, how's the budget, how are the priorities. Surely without Rudiger and Christensen, they have to buy a minimum of one defender, so I think Kounde is a top choice.
"[Josko] Gvardiol is a good player, not top as Kounde, but surely these are two important targets, and it depends on what the board wants to do. And, I repeat, on who will decide the strategy of the market. Marina Granovskaia or another sports director. We still don't know who is going to be in charge.
"Tuchel obviously knows what the club needs, but it depends on who is the technical person who has to get Chelsea's deals done - if it is Marina or not. I think this is the most important thing to solve quickly."
