This has been a dramatic few days for Chelsea Football Club but the tension and suspense won't end for another few days yet as Roman Abramovich prepares to sell the Premier League side.
What's the word?
Abramovich officially put the club up for sale on Wednesday evening amid the fear of having his assets in the United Kingdom frozen by the British government.
With that in mind, a sale will need to be done quickly and it's believed a deal could be wrapped up and confirmed as soon as Monday.
A takeover is being led by an American-Swiss consortium in Todd Boehly and Hansjörg Wyss who are moving closer to finalising matters.
If a deal is concluded, supporters will quite rightfully enquire about the futures of important club figures like Petr Cech and Marina Granovskaia.
Well, a big update has been provided on the latter with journalist Matt Law suggesting on the London is Blue podcast that she could stay at Stamford Bridge.
He said: "I'm told that one of the groups interested in buying Chelsea would certainly want her to stay. They know all about her and how valuable she is. And they certainly wouldn't be looking to come in and just ask her to leave.”
Fans surely buzzing
This has been a concerning period for supporters of Chelsea but if the new owners do keep Granovskaia in west London, it can only be a good thing.
After all, she is not only one of the most powerful and inspirational women in football, but she's one of the best at her job in the world.
The 47-year-old became involved in contractual dealings and transfers in 2010 and was later made chief executive four years later.
Dubbed the 'Iron Lady', she helped broker an important sponsorship deal with Nike and in December 2021, picked up the gong for the Best Club Director in European football at the Golden Boy awards.
Speaking about her fierce nature, a source once told The Evening Standard: "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 calls the shots."
Furthermore, she also knows how to get what she wants. For instance, when the Blues wanted to sign Ben Chilwell, Leicester were standing firm over an £80m price tag but Chelsea ultimately ended up paying £50m.
A similar story could be said of Kai Havertz who initially looked like costing the Londoners £100m until Granovskaia negotiated a move worth £75.8m instead. The German has already more than paid his transfer fee, scoring the winning goal in the 2021 Champions League final.
With all that said, it's incredibly evident that the Russian-Canadian is particularly good at her job and if she does stay at the Bridge, fans will surely be over the moon.