From The Sunday Times:
Peter Kenyon was lured from Manchester United to become Chelsea’s new chief executive by a £3m signing-on fee, which is part of a three-year package worth at least £7.5m. The one-off lump sum even eclipses the standard signing-on fees paid to the world’s top footballers, which usually range from £500,000 to £1.5m.
Sources close to Kenyon have confirmed the details of the lucrative deal that he has agreed with Chelsea’s billionaire owner, Roman Abramovich. Kenyon stunned the world of football last Monday when he announced he was leaving United, where he has been chief executive for the past three years. His "golden hello" is even greater than the City’s previous record of £1.9m paid to James Nicol, head of American industrial construction group Tomkins.
Kenyon is on "gardening leave" while his lawyers negotiate the exact details of his exit. He has a 12-month notice period and is not expected to take up his new post until December at the earliest.
Kenyon admitted last night that he was to receive a significant signing-on fee, but refused to confirm the details. When it was put to him that the fee was £3m, he said: "I think you can say that is highly inflated."
His predecessor, Trevor Birch, who quit the club last night in the wake of Kenyon’s appointment, will be handsomely rewarded too. He had a clause in his contract entitling him to a £2.25m payoff. It is understood Birch will receive that payoff in full after rejecting Abramovich’s offer of a senior role working with Kenyon.
