Manchester United will have the power to take devastating revenge on Chelsea
for poaching Peter Kenyon by blackballing their Premiership rivals from the
prestigious G-14 group of the richest football clubs in the world later this year.
Admission has to be approved by a unanimous vote, which means that United's
new chief executive, David Gill, who yesterday also succeeded Kenyon as vice-
chairman of G-14, could prevent Chelsea joining.
Kenyon has been told by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich that his priority as
chief executive will not be the handling of transfers or setting up a merchandising operation, but increasing the influence of Chelsea in the Football Association and Europe.
To get Chelsea into the G-14, Kenyon will not only have to beg with the club he
has been accused of betraying but will also have to persuade Paris St-Germain, with whom he fell out over the Ronaldinho transfer saga this summer.
He is not seen by Chelsea as the man to handle their transfer affairs - especially after Sir Alex Ferguson had to intervene during Kenyon's failure to land Ronaldinho - and they have so much financial clout that selling shirts in the Far East is not a priority.