Peter Kenyon reveals inside story of José Mourinho's Chelsea appointment

Updated: 23 Nov, 2025 • 0 • min read

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Peter Kenyon reveals inside story of José Mourinho's Chelsea appointment

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Former Chelsea Chief Executive Peter Kenyon has opened up on the behind-the-scenes drama of José Mourinho's 2004 arrival at Stamford Bridge, recalling how the deal nearly collapsed before it even began.

Kenyon, who served as Chelsea CEO for five years, was instrumental in bringing Mourinho to West London after Claudio Ranieri's departure.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Kenyon revealed how a tense meeting almost ended the pursuit of the man who would go on to become the club's most decorated manager.

The Meeting That Almost Didn't Happen

The decisive negotiations took place in a restaurant near the Portuguese border, with Roman Abramovich, Eugene Tenenbaum and Mourinho's representatives in attendance.

But the "Special One" was nowhere to be seen.

The deal nearly didn't get closed because he was late for a meeting with me, Roman and Eugene in some God-awful restaurant just over the border from Portugal.

We were waiting for about two hours, which is unheard of with Roman. We were all getting annoyed as time went on. It was like, "Is this boy serious?"

His agent was making excuses for him about why he was late. Had they come clean as to why they were late in the first place it would have been a lot easier, but I shouldn't go into that.

So it didn't stop him [being appointed], but it came awfully close to saying, "Is this going to happen?"

When Mourinho eventually arrived, Kenyon said he immediately won over Abramovich and the Chelsea hierarchy by speaking as though he was already part of the club.

Anyway, he finally turns up and he's absolutely charming and steals the show with the finer details of if he joins us what he's going to do.

He kept referring to Chelsea as "we." I noticed it immediately and he was talking about the players as though they were his players and referring to the club and to the team as "we."

Mourinho's impact was instant as Chelsea won their first league title in 50 years in 2005 and followed it up with another Premier League triumph the following season.

Why It Fell Apart

Despite the success, tensions emerged as Abramovich wanted Chelsea to evolve into a more entertaining side.

When you haven't won, you want to win and then when you're winning, you want to win with a bit of flair.

That's what started to happen. It was like, "We'd like a bit more entertainment." And that was from Roman.

That was going into the third season when a little bit of tension started to creep in. That's where over the next few months positions started to get entrenched a bit.

The Legacy of the Special One

Mourinho eventually left in 2007 after a clash of visions with Abramovich.

He would return in 2013, winning another Premier League title and League Cup before departing again in 2015.

With three Premier League titles, three League Cups, and an FA Cup to his name, Mourinho remains Chelsea's most successful manager.

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