From the Times
Peter Kenyon walked away from the most highly paid executive position in English football yesterday after agreeing a severance package with Chelsea.
The outgoing chief executive is planning to stay in football, but will not work for another Premier League club because he will remain as a non-executive director at Stamford Bridge after leaving his post on October 31.
The club had intended to confirm the chief executive's intention to leave when the transfer window closed at the beginning of this month, but their plans were put on hold as a result of Fifa's announcement of a transfer ban, which had no impact on Kenyon's decision.
Indeed, one of his key roles as a non-executive director will be to lead Chelsea's appeal against Fifa's transfer embargo at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.
Chelsea have a succession plan in place that they will announce in the next few days, but they are not expected to appoint a high-profile chief executive such as Kenyon, who was poached from Manchester United on a Premier League-record annual salary of £1.8 million shortly after Roman Abramovich bought the club six years ago.
Frank Arnesen, who was promoted to the role of sporting director this summer, will take greater responsibility for the footballing side of the business, with existing employees likely to be promoted to take charge of the club's commercial activities and contract negotiations.
The 54-year-old was essentially made the scapegoat for the failure of Luiz Felipe Scolari, whom he appointed as manager 15 months ago instead of Abramovich's preferred candidate, Carlo Ancelotti.
Abramovich also blamed Kenyon for Chelsea's failure to sign Robinho from Real Madrid last summer as a result of Manchester City topping their offer at the last minute. It was a setback that Scolari claimed fatally undermined his cause.