Man United hit for £30m

Manchester United suffered a major blow today, with £30 million wiped off its share value following the defection to Chelsea of chief executive Peter Kenyon.

The Stock Exchange slide is equivalent to the profit made by the club when it sold David Beckham to Real Madrid.

While City analysts do not believe it will lead to a long-term slump, the financial hit is an embarrassment for United, coming just 24 hours after losing a key boardroom figure to the club emerging as genuine rivals.

Within 20 minutes of the Stock Exchange opening the share price slumped 11p, cutting the Old Trafford club's worth to £432 million. Later it recovered slightly to 1701/2p

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's move for Kenyon shows his determination to make his club a global brand to compare with Real Madrid and United.

But it has led to a boardroom clash at Chelsea today where the "devastated" previous chief executive, Trevor Birch, is believed to be set to quit. He is understood to have told Abramovich and his team of executives that his position is now untenable.

Kenyon is currently on gardening leave and has been replaced by United's managing director, David Gill.

The move follows a frenzied spending spree by Abramovich at Stamford Bridge, which has seen the arrival of players such as Juan Sebastian Veron and Hernan Crespo.