Who picks Chelsea's transfer targets?

In conversation with a former Stamford Bridge hero, he told me advisedly: “The question you need to ask, is who picks 'em?”

If only there was someone available to answer that.

The mystery of who is behind Chelsea's search for footballing talent, never the clearest of subjects, has only been deepened in recent months – by a series of top level personnel changes.

The puzzle used to be who, out of the manager of the day and Technical Director Michael Emenalo, was responsible for selecting the transfer targets to fill the Blues' first team squad.

But since one of those two abruptly left the club, and the other made it clear to anyone within earshot that he doesn't do the scouting work, who exactly does that leave?

Since Carlo Ancelotti announced in the mire of his late 2010 'bad moment' that he was 'technical direction only', it has been clear that Chelsea managers are merely there to work the toolkit they are handed.

While incoming managers may have suggestions - such as Andre Villas-Boas' desire to sign Juan Mata, and Antonio Conte's keenness to acquire N'Golo Kante – the final decisions lie with some higher authority.

For several years, that authority belonged to Emenalo, whose talent investment targets have provided both on-pitch success, and off-pitch funding streams.

But, as that former Chelsea star pointed out, the lines of demarcation are somewhat muddied now he has gone.

Conte, asked at the weekend about any interest he might have in Alexis Sanchez, yet again renewed the insistence that such matters were nothing to do with him.

So, who does pick 'em?

Chelsea this week announced the appointment of a new Chief Executive.

That, in itself, came as some surprise: the club has formally been without one since Ron Gourlay suddenly departed in 2014.

Back then, it was announced that the club had examined the way it worked, and decided other priorities needed putting into sharper focus.

Christian Purslow, who arrived around the same time, was never a Chief Exec as such.

But his role in traversing the globe, picking up corporate branding partners, made him a sort of super-sized Gourlay; and it established him clearly as the club's most important executive during his three-year stay.

He left last year, and the departure of Emenalo some months later brought further talk of tinkering with the club's executive hierarchy.

Neither Gourlay nor Purslow had anything to do with picking players: exploiting their image, maybe; but as far as the talent search went, they were not involved.

And the new man at the top, former Vodafone UK CEO Guy Laurence, will too have no involvement in this area.

His expertise lies in maximising broadcast rights and, during a spell overseeing the fortunes of Toronto's sporting franchises, managing funding streams for a new stadium.

So far, so obvious.

But who does that leave?

Marina Granovskaia, the woman who has latterly taken Emenalo's place in grip-and-grin player-signing shots, is a fixer.

She is the one who overcomes the obstacles which might stand in the way of a contract. She is not a trained coach or scout.

Neither, despite a lifetime in football, is David Banard – the highly rated football administrator who acts Chelsea's company secretary, the man who physically does the paperwork on signings.

Which leaves: Chairman Bruce Buck, a lawyer; money-man and owner Roman Abramovich; and the Russian's right hand man, Eugene Tenenbaum.

The arrival of Ross Barkley this month was an interesting move: certainly good financial business, but we're yet to learn how good the footballing business will be.

But with no 'football people' in the club's top structure, who exactly is looking out for that objective.

So, as that man said: “Who picks 'em?”

Finding the answer will be far trickier than merely asking the question.