IT was not the money, says Peter Kenyon, that persuaded him to leave Manchester United for Chelsea. It was the challenge.

“I had the chance to use my skills on one of the most exciting opportunities in European football: a big club in a capital city with an investor who is passionate about building it up.”

So here he is, at the start of a new football season, sitting in a vast fourth-floor office at Stamford Bridge, west London, as chief executive of Chelsea Village, which runs Chelsea FC. He has all the money he could want to spend, the pick of players, his own choice as manager, a salary reputed to top £1m, a refurbished ground in a posh part of London, and ambitious plans to turn Chelsea into the biggest brand in world football.

And is he happy? Well, it’s hard to tell because Kenyon, 50, does not give much away. Medium height, stocky, bullet-headed, dressed in a spotless white shirt, he exudes cautious charm, smiling and throwing the odd comment back in his flat Mancunian brogue. But he keeps a lot to himself.

Certainly, he stunned United when he resigned as chief executive last year. How could he leave the club he supported as a boy — a club that was the biggest in the world? Kenyon, whose CV includes Gallaher, Burton and Umbro, just shrugs it off. That’s business. And in a football world dominated by blackslapping, prevarication and rumour-monger- ing, his ability to say little and do lots has proved effective.

But Chelsea is a whole new ball game. Plucked from the brink by the billionaire Roman Abramovich and pumped with Russian oil money, “Chelski” has caused consternation with its attempts to buy its way to the top in double-quick time.

Last season the club came second in the Premiership, sacked its manager Claudio Ranieri, and failed in its attempt to poach the England boss Sven-Göran Eriksson. This summer it kept on buying, taking its spending on players to nearly £200m in two seasons.

That puts huge pressure on Kenyon and his new team manager, José Mourinho. Coming second this time will not be good enough.

Everything is under review. “My role,” says Kenyon, “is to make sure the structure is here that ensures the team is successful. I don’t pick the team. That is Jose’s job. But I was instrumental in bringing José in.”

Did he handle the departure of Ranieri well? He pauses. “Sometimes you have to take decisions that are not popular. My aim is not to be popular but successful.”

And the approach to Eriksson? “I think we would all do things differently in retrospect,” he mutters.

Now he needs to concentrate on that long-term financial structure, using what looks like the United template. He is just back from Chelsea’s money-making tour of America where he wants to build the club’s “brand”. China is also targeted. Next he wants to offer better services in his refurbished, 42,000-capacity stadium — he cannot make it as big as Old Trafford (for planning reasons) but he can make it better. It already has a hotel on site.

Then there are new sponsorship deals to thrash out. A clue to Kenyon’s strategy comes from persistent rumours that he is keen to replace Chelsea’s shirt sponsor Emirates with a better-known brand such as T-Mobile or Orange.