Roman's right-hand woman who the Russian owner has promoted to the Chelsea boardroom

Roman Abramovich's senior advisor and former assistant, Marina Granovskaia, is set to become a member of Chelsea's executive board on Friday.

Her role at the club has been expanding in recent years and she has been attending board meetings in an unofficial capacity since 2010, as well as acting as a transfer broker.

She has also been spotted at the training ground and speaks to senior players to canvass their opinion on key issues.

It means new Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, appointed earlier this month, will be working with another member of staff close to the owner - along with Michael Emenalo.

Granovskaia, a Russian-Canadian, has worked for Abramovich for 17 years, and will now become one of the most highly-placed women working in English football, report the Independent.

She started out working for his Sibneft oil company after graduating from Moscow State University in 1997 and will now join chairman Bruce Buck, CEO Ron Gourlay, director Eugene Tenenbaum, cub secretary David Barnard and company secretary Alan Shaw.

Granovskaia and Drogba with Salomon Kalou and technical director Michel Emenalo, Roman Abramovich below

Granovskaia's appointment to the board has long been in the pipeline and has not occurred purely because of the arrival of the new Chelsea manager.
She was involved in the deals to bring David Luiz and Fernando Torres to the club in January 2011.