Lukaku exit looms as Chelsea enter race to land Raphinha

So it's all change at boardroom level at Stamford Bridge, with director Marina Granovskaia following chairman Bruce Buck out of the door.

Todd Boehly had already been confirmed as the new chairman after leading his consortium's takeover and his first big move has been to appoint himself as interim director, too.

The Blues are on the lookout for a replacement for Granovskaia, who "remains available" to help Boehly for the rest of the summer if required.

But her departure means the American will likely be responsible for all of Chelsea 's transfer business this summer — and it is promising to be an incredibly busy one for him.

In a statement, Boehly said: "As custodians of Chelsea FC, we now begin executing our long-term vision and plan for the Club, creating an outstanding experience for its passionate, loyal fans, and continuing to challenge for top honours in line with Chelsea FC's decorated history."

He went on: "We thank Marina for her many years of excellent service to the Club and wish her all the best in her future ventures."

Boss Thomas Tuchel has been handed a huge amount of power in terms of shaping his squad.

But the buck for getting all those deals done, ins and outs, will ultimately stop with Boehly, and he will want to show Blues fans that, not only is he a shrewd operator, but that the new ownership won't baulk at splashing out on marquee signings when they are needed.

Not that marquee signings always work out for Chelsea…

Rom's Gone

Confirmation in the last 24 hours from the Daily Telegraph that Romelu Lukaku, Roman Abramovich's last major signing, has successfully engineered the return to Inter Milan he has been seeking since, well, pretty much the day he returned to Stamford Bridge last summer.

The Belgian never settled back in to life in south-west London and word of his desire to move back to Italy emerged in December, shortly before the release of his infamous interview to Sky in which he confirmed as much.

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Tuchel was furious and Lukaku was always going to struggle after that, and just a year after completing a £97.5million transfer, he has been loaned to Inter for a fee of just £7m in what has been a disastrous piece of business all round.

Inter will pick up Lukaku's wages for the next 12 months and Boehly will now step up the Blues' bid to land Ousmane Dembele from Barcelona or Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich.

According to 90min.com, Chelsea have reportedly made a direct enquiry for Lewandowski.

Revving up for Raphinha

Chelsea's hopes of signing Leeds star Raphinha for around £60m have been handed a significant boost with The Athletic reporting the Brazilian would prefer a move to Stamford Bridge over Arsenal.

The Gunners are understood to have made an opening offer which falls short of the Tykes' valuation but, either way, Blues fans will be buoyed by the news the winger would rather wear their shirt than Arsenal's next season.

Barcelona and Tottenham are also keen on the 25-year-old.

Sterling drops deadline message to suitors

Manchester City and England star Raheem Sterling wants his future resolved within a fortnight.

That's according to the Daily Mail, who say the 27-year-old wants to be through the door for a full pre-season with his new club.

Barcelona are also interested, but the chance to move back to his home city, London, is said to appeal to the former Liverpool ace and the fact Chelsea can offer Champions League football gives them an advantage over Arsenal, who are also keen.

Crown Jules

Barcelona are struggling to find the money to rival Chelsea for the signing of defender Jules Kounde from Sevilla and have pulled out of the race.

Which, translated, probably means word has reached them that the player has already set his heart on a move to Stamford Bridge.

The Sun reports that the Catalan giants are no longer in the running for the £65m-rated star and that, with terms already agreed between Chelsea and Kounde on a five-year deal, now the Blues hierarchy has been sorted a final figure will soon be thrashed out between the two clubs.