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Meet Chelsea's £130m dealmaker: Marina Granovskaia handled Hazard deal

Meet Chelsea's £130m dealmaker: Marina Granovskaia handled Hazard deal Donald Trump made his name with the Art of the Deal, and if negotiations deserve a place in a gallery then Marina Granovskaia's sale of Eden Hazard to Real Madrid may be her masterpiece.She has managed to eke out an eventual total of £130million from Real despite Hazard making it clear that he wants to leave Stamford Bridge and the Belgian having only a year left on his contract.It speaks for a woman who has managed a phenomenal rise since being described as a 'grey mouse' by one of her former teachers. Granovskaia was born in Russia in January 1975 and went to a school in Moscow which specialised in music and dance. There was no sports on offer at the school and eventually graduated six months after the fall of the Soviet Union.'I remember teaching her, but don't recall anything outstanding about Marina,' said a teacher. 'It's interesting how she has made such a successful career in sport in London.' She went on to study at the Foreign Languages Faculty of Moscow State University and then became Roman Abramovich's PA at Sibneft.Abramovich grew to trust her implicitly and took him with her to Chelsea when he bought it in 2003.Granovskaia is known to have the best access to the elusive billionaire and takes his place at meetings.In terms of her negotiation skills, the example of coming to terms on a new deal with John Terry probably best sums up her talent. When he tried to change the terms on offer, she simply responded: 'Take it or f****** leave it'.Eventually her role at Chelsea was formalised. She was promoted into the position of chief executive in 2014, which, in the view of one newspaper, made her 'the most powerful woman in football'.She has been handed difficult tasks, including bringing Jose Mourinho back to Stamford Bridge after he fell out with Abramovich, meeting agents for signings and turning the youth system at Chelsea into the profitable structure it is today.A source at Chelsea told the Evening Standard in 2014: 'She is basically the power at Chelsea. Roman trusts her implicitly. She's not interested in being a celebrity but there is no doubt who's in charge and who call the shots.'Little is known about her personal life, to the extent that she is known as 'an absolutely non-public person' in her native Russia.She is thought to be a fan of restaurant Sumosan. Head chef Bubker Belkhit said: 'She's an amazing person. She's so professional, she knows what she wants. She's on top of any small thing to the biggest thing. Any small problem I contact her with, she deals with it.'There have been lows at Chelsea. She fell out with Antonio Conte when he was in charge over transfers.According to the Times, he was unhappy at how she failed to sign Leonardo Bonucci and eventually it got so bad that they resorted to speaking through coach Carlo Cudicini rather than face to face.Mostly, though, it has been great highs. Along with the Hazard deal, she has helped make Chelsea self-sufficient through the aforementioned youth system and commercial

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