Former Chelsea manager Marina Granovskaia posts message for Blues fans: 'most powerful woman in football' makes rare appearance on social media

Former Chelsea manager Marina Granovskaia posted a message to fans
She stepped up her social media presence with a series of posts
LISTEN It all begins! “I wouldn’t touch Nagelsmann with a barge pole!”

Former Chelsea manager Marina Granovskaia has recorded a message for Chelsea fans in a rare appearance on Instagram.

Once dubbed “the most powerful woman in football”, Granovskaia was manager of Stamford Bridge from 2014 to 2022.

In recent weeks, the Russian football administrator, a key figure in Roman Abramovich’s reign, has published memories of her time at the club.

She is generally not an active figure on social media.

“I wanted to come here real quick to say that I wasn’t really sure about everything that’s going on on Instagram, but I’ve been totally overwhelmed by the amount of messages, DMs, blue hearts, fond memories that come back to me,” Granovskaia began.

Former Chelsea manager Marina Granovskaia has posted a message online for Chelsea fans.

She thanked Blues fans for their messages after a series of posts about Stamford Bridge memories – as well as a court case involving football agent Saif Rubie.

“I just wanted to say a huge thank you to each and every one of you.

“I can’t respond to all the messages but I read them all.

“I didn’t expect this and I’m really, really grateful, so thank you.”

His message comes weeks after a trial involving officer Saif Rubie, who was cleared in court of charges of sending an electronic communication over the Internet to cause distress.

Granovskaia had declared in court that she felt “physically threatened” when he demanded money he thought he was owed the deal that saw Kurt Zouma move to Chelsea from West Ham.

Rubie, who had demanded £300,000, was cleared after being charged with a single count of sending an electronic communication with intent to cause distress.

The officer denied threatening to cause distress to Granovskaia and was later found not guilty.

Zouma moved from Chelsea to West Ham for £29.2m in 2021, with a £4.1m severance fee to the defender included.

Granovskaia testified about how she felt upon receiving an email sent to her by Officer Rubie.

Football agent Rubie (above) has been cleared after being accused of breaching the Malicious Communications Act.

Kurt Zouma’s £29.1m move to West Ham from Chelsea in 2021 was at the center of the trial

Rubie reportedly demanded payment for role in Zouma’s move to Hammers

Granovskaia was a manager at Chelsea between 2014 and 2022 and nicknamed “the most powerful woman in football”.

Testifying in court, prosecutor Arizuna Asante asked Granovskaia how she felt after receiving Rubie’s email.

She replied: “Very uncomfortable would be an understatement. I felt physically threatened because of the language used which made it personal as it referred to the Kia (Joorabchian) incident.

In his testimony to the jury, Rubie denied this and said he only ever implied a legal threat, not a physical one.