Kenyon gets an offer he can't refuse

Having assembled a playing squad to strike fear into English football, Chelsea's last night made a signing designed to establish an equal dominance off the field when it was announced Manchester United's chief executive Peter Kenyon will be leaving to fill the same role at Stamford Bridge.

United, who lost Juan Sebastian Veron to Chelsea in the summer, may come to regard Kenyon's defection as more damaging. A boyhood United fan who grew up watching Best, Charlton and Law, Kenyon will swap a £625,000 annual income for a seven-figure sum, revealing how far Roman Abramovich will go to establish Chelsea as England's premier club.

In effectively doubling his salary, Kenyon will argue that Abramovich's offer was too good to turn down. His resignation is said to have left United's manager Alex Ferguson "intensely disappointed" but Chelsea are entitled to believe that after a summer in which they have bought the likes of Veron, Adrian Mutu, Hernan Crespo and Claude Makelele, spending £ 111.25 million on 11 players, Kenyon's appointment represents their boldest statement of intent yet.

United's directors, as well as Ferguson, had been unaware of Kenyon's projected move until yesterday afternoon and the reaction from supporters was one of disappointment and bemusement, not least because of the frequency with which Kenyon referred to his days as a supporter on the Stretford End.

As with the majority of the Chelsea's deals since Abramovich's £140 million takeover, the Russian billionaire appointed the so-called "super agent" Pini Zahavi to broker negotiations with Kenyon.

Abramovich's request was to find the "best man there is" and Zahavi turned to someone who three times in his three-year tenure as Ferguson's immediate boss had signed cheques that broke the British transfer record. Moreover, under his stewardship the Manchester United brand has become a global leader, establishing a near-hegemony in far eastern markets and making a thus-far inconclusive attempt to crack the American market.

Kenyon (49), was chief operating officer of Umbro International before joining United's board six years ago. He succeeded Martin Edwards as chief executive in August 2000.

Since then Kenyon has secured Nike as sponsor, bringing in £ 303 million over 13 years, and been instrumental in numerous other deals with the likes of Vodafone, netting the club more than £100 million a year, and a ground-breaking agreement with the New York Yankees.

Kenyon's record on major transfers is less convincing. He failed to convince Ronaldinho to join in the summer, drew criticism over David Beckham's transfer to Real Madrid and was suffered frequent accusations that United paid over the odds for Veron and Rio Ferdinand.

But at Chelsea Kenyon will be moving from a plc with shareholders to satisfy to a newly-formed private company under Abramovich, where it is clear that more money will be available than at Old Trafford.

"They have brought him in to try to surpass United as part of the 'new Chelsea'," said the former Stamford Bridge chief executive Colin Hutchinson last night.

"If you look globally at their financial situation - compared to Real, who have assembled a superb squad but also piled up a load of debt - they are on a sound footing. And he will be a big loss to United."

Former Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale, who is set to take over at Second Division Barnsley, said: "Peter spent a lot of money when he bought Rio Ferdinand from me at Leeds so he is obviously used to writing big cheques and that is what probably attracted Roman Abramovich."

Meanwhile United wasted little time in replacing Kenyon. The Old Trafford outfit released a statement which said: "The board of Manchester United plc is delighted to announce the appointment of David Gill as its new chief executive with immediate effect, to replace Peter Kenyon who has resigned today.

"Mr Kenyon will now go on 'garden leave' in accordance with the terms of his contract."

Manchester United plc chairman Roy Gardner added: "We would like to thank Peter for his significant contribution to the success of Manchester United on and off the pitch in the last six years.

"David, as managing director, has also played a major role in that success, and we are delighted that his appointment will bring both experience and continuity to this position."

Gill (46), was previously finance director of First Choice Holidays and has the credentials to succeed.

Meanwhile, Chelsea expect their current chief executive, Trevor Birch, to stay on in some capacity.