Thomas Tuchel admits surprise at outlasting Petr Cech, Roman Abramovich and Marina Granovskaia at Chelsea
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Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has made an honest admission regarding the departures of former Blues owner Roman Abramovich, as well as Petr Cech and Marina Granovskaia.
The German was appointed under the previous owner, replacing Frank Lampard in 2021 before winning the UEFA Champions League.
Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government and forced to sell Chelsea earlier this year.
Following the sale of the club, the consortium Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took over from the Russian.
One of the first points of call for the new regime was deciding the new hierarchy at Stamford Bridge.
Chairman Bruce Buck, director Marina Granovskaia and performance and technical advisor Petr Cech have all left the Blues.
Boehly acted as sporting director in an interim role, while Tuchel was given full control of the transfer window, signing Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling as his first player this summer.
Tuchel shared a strong working relationship with Granovskaia and Cech during their time together, with the pair working hard to encourage the German to take on the head coaching role in the first place.
The German told the Guardian he was surprised to outlive the pair at Chelsea and went deeper into the changes at Stamford Bridge.
“I could never have imagined that I would stay longer at the club than Roman, Marina and Petr,” he admitted.
“So now, with Marina no longer in charge and Petr no longer there, it’s changed a lot.
“We didn’t see that coming and of course, with Todd taking over as sporting director, we’re in a very intense and close relationship to bring in signings and improve the team.”
The head coach went on to reveal what his day-to-day relationship with Boehly was like as they looked to improve the Chelsea squad over the summer.

“He asks for an opinion, he also has players he likes, there are players offered to him and he can always have our opinion and it’s a heated discussion,” Tuchel continued.
“But there is a kind of list. It never exists where you put six names and you say, ‘Bring me those players or I’m leaving.’ I have never worked like this. But of course the positions are clear, the profiles are clear, and then of course there are one, two, three names on the list and in transfer periods it doesn’t take long and then comes a fourth name or a fifth name and a sixth name on all sides.
It remains to be seen who will join the club this summer, with Tuchel hoping to improve his squad ahead of the new season to compete at the top of the Premier League.