Peter Kenyon is considering leaving Chelsea on a high after
successfully renegotiating the club's shirt sponsorship deal with
Samsung.
The club are expected to announce an extension to their existing
five-year deal this week, which is believed to be an improvement on
the present £11million-a-year package.
Kenyon, the chief executive, has been focusing on commercial
work for some time as others at the club have come to the fore on
the football side, and after concluding negotiations with the
Korean electronics company he is weighing up whether it is the
right time to move on. He is understood to have felt increasingly
sidelined in recent months: he played little part in the
appointment of Carlo Ancelotti as manager last month, and was on
holiday when Luiz Felipe Scolari was sacked in February.
Chelsea's promotion of Frank Arnesen to the new position of
sporting director this week was another blow to Kenyon, because
there is bound to be an overlap between their respective roles. The
Dane was in charge of youth development and scouting, but will take
greater responsibility for signing first-team players, an area
previously headed by Kenyon.
The 55-year-old kept a low profile when Ancelotti was introduced
to the media last week and is not expected to appear to promote the
Samsung deal, another indication that he may be on his way out.
Kenyon does not have another job to go to, but there have been
persistent rumours linking him with a move to Manchester City and,
given his wealth of experience with Manchester United, where he was
also chief executive, and Chelsea he is unlikely to be short of
offers.
Chelsea are adamant that Kenyon is staying and have no plans to
dismiss him.
