Who is Marina Granovskaia? Chelsea director who won at the Golden Boy awards
Who is Marina Granovskaia?
Because of his performances at club and national level, Pedri Gonzalez, the true winner of the Golden Boy award for 2021, is a name that is echoing around the footballing world. However, it was Marina Granovskaia’s name that drew the attention of football aficionados. Who is Marina Granovskaia? is the question on the minds of football fans. And Alley Sport brings you the history, achievements of this special woman, and also the event of this year’s Golden Boy award.
Marina Granovskaia is a Russian-Canadian corporate entrepreneur who is presently the director of Chelsea Football Club. She formerly worked as Roman Abramovich’s chief assistant for nearly ten years.
She later became involved in Chelsea’s transfers and contractual negotiations, serving as the club’s owner’s agent in 2010 and then joining the Chelsea board of directors in June 2013. She was named the club’s chief executive in 2014. According to the New York Times, her rise elevated her to the position of “most influential woman in football.”
Her job as a transfer manager occasionally placed her at odds with managers who had their own ideas about who to sell and buy during the transfer window. She was also in charge of negotiating the team’s sponsorship contract with Nike, which will see the club receive £60 million each year until 2032.
She has been dubbed “The Iron Lady” and is regarded as one of the top club directors in the world. Forbes placed her fifth among the “Most Powerful Women in International Sports” list in 2018.
Marina Granovskaia got the Golden Boy award for Best Club Director in European Football on December 13th, 2021.
Apart from Marina Granovskaia, there were other other stars who received different awards for their respective accomplishments in the field of football when it came to the Golden Boy award.
History of Golden Ball award
The Golden Boy is an accolade given by sports journalists to a young footballer in Europe who has been deemed the most remarkable over the course of a calendar year (two halves to two separate seasons). All nominees must be under the age of 21 and play in the top division of a European country.
Tuttosport, an Italian sports daily, launched the award in 2003. Bild (Germany), Blick (Switzerland), A Bola (Portugal), l’Équipe (France), France Football (France), Marca (Spain), Mundo Deportivo (Spain), Ta Nea (Greece), Sport Express (Russia), De Telegraaf (Netherlands), and The Times (UK) are among the newspapers that now engage in voting (United Kingdom). Each juror is allowed to nominate five players, with 10 points going to the most impressive player, 7 points going to the second most impressive player, 5 points going to the third most impressive player, 3 points going to the fourth most impressive player, and 1 point going to the fifth most impressive player.
Golden Boy award 2021
Pedri González, who is 19 years old, has earned the Golden Boy award 2021 for his outstanding achievement at club and national level. A Barcelona and Spanish midfielder whose playing style is almost comparable to that of the renowned Andres Iniesta he is labelled as ” A clone of Iniesta”. He had an outstanding season, winning the Copa del Rey with Barcelona, Olympic Silver Medalist, reaching the Euros semifinals with Spain, and receiving the Kopa Trophy at the 2021 Ballon D Or ceremony. After Lionel Messi in 2005, he is the first Barcelona player to win the award.
Jude Bellingham of England and Borussia Dortmund came in second, as the Birmingham City product continues to grow into one of the game’s greatest box-to-box midfielders. Bellingham, who failed to earn minutes for England at EURO 2020, has stepped up his game for Dortmund this season, scoring three goals and providing five assists in 16 appearances.
Jamal Musiala of Bayern Munich and Germany came in third place, as the 18-year-old has already become a full international and continues to impress whenever called upon by club and country. In a handful of Bundesliga cameos with Bayern, he has two goals and three assists.
Another young German talent, Florian Wirtz of Bayer Leverkusen, finished fourth. Wirtz, who is 18 years old, has seven goals in 14 games for Leverkusen this season and can play everywhere in the attacking line.
Rounding out the top five is another Barcelona and Spain starlet, Gavi, as the 17-year-old midfielder is yet another gem to come out of La Masia. He is set to be a key part of Barcelona and Spain for the next decade alongside Pedri.
Lieke Mertens, another Barcelona Player of the women team also received the prize for her brilliant performance throughout the 2020-21 season. She was handed the trophy from retired Manchester United and Netherland legend Edwin Van der Sar.
List of Golden Boy award winners:
2003 : Van der vaart
2004 : Wayne Rooney
2005 : Lionel Messi
2006 : Cesc Fabregas
2007 : Kun Aguero
2008 : Anderson
2009 : Alexandre Pato
2010 : Mario Balotelli
2011 : Mario Gotze
2012 : Isco
2013 : Paul Pogba
2014 : Raheem Sterling
2015 : Anthony Martial
2016 : Renato Sanches
2017 : Kylian Mbappe
2018 : De Ligt
2019 : Jao Felix
2020 : Erling Haaland
2021 : Pedri
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