Chelsea have gone through some major changes, both on the pitch and off it.
Following the departure of former owner Roman Abramovich, the Blues, now owned by American billionaire Todd Boehly, have undergone some major staff changes.
Former director Marina Granovskaia, who left shortly after Abramovich, has left a major void at the club and even though the Russian-Canadian’s exit sent shockwaves throughout football, it appears she is finally set to be replaced.
According to super-agent and CaughtOffside columnist Haydn Dodge, Boehly is in discussions with three individuals with a view of forming a new executive board.
“Granovskaia has gone now and even though there is still some work to be done in terms of senior-level staff, Boehly is about to put an executive board consisting of three people in place,” Dodge said in an exclusive interview.
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“From what we‘ve been told, the three people in discussions are Stuart Webber from Norwich City, Christian Vivelli from RB Leipzig and Joe Shields from Southampton.
“All of them have the pedigree and know the model of bringing young players through from their time spent at Norwich, Leipzig and Southampton, respectfully.”
Interestingly, once talks have concluded, Dodge believes the player that will be at the top of the Blues’ winter wishlist is Southampton’s Romeo Lavia.
“Once this change takes place, one of the players at the top of their list to bring in, in January will be Southampton’s Romeo Lavia, who, in my opinion, is a superstar in the making and Belgium’s future captain,” Dodge added.
A potential move certainly makes a lot of sense. Not only are the Blues in talks to bring in the man responsible for signing Lavia to the Saints, but considering N’Golo Kante is approaching the end of his contract, it could be the right time for the Londoners to finally replace their legendary Frenchman.
Even though Lavia, 18, only joined the Saints from Manchester city’s youth academy in the summer, he has gone on to play an important role for the recently departed Ralph Hasenhuttl and consequently already looks set for a high-profile move.