Kenyon's vision for Chelsea

"You can't do it without winning, that's what counts," he said. "Being second is good if you were fourth last year, but who remembers the runners-up? It gets you into the Champions League, which is important, but you can't be a world-class club without winning. That's what brings in money."

Kenyon admitted that the club regretted how Claudio Ranieri's sacking happened in such a public way but believes replacing him with Mourinho is the right decision.

He said: "From the moment the England manager was pictured at my owner's house we were on the back foot. We would have liked to have dealt with it quicker but we feel we dealt with it professionally.

"One thing I can never understand is how you get rid of someone such as the manager without identifying who the next guy is. We have done it the other way round."

Kenyon felt it was important to appoint Mourinho so early in the summer to enable him to gel with the players during pre-season.

Explaining why Chelsea chose the former Porto coach, he said: "We were looking for someone with the right credentials. Mourinho clearly had this. He has won the Champions League and the UEFA Cup and was regarded by UEFA as one of the top coaches.

"When we met there had to be chemistry. We spelt out what was the vision for Chelsea and he bought into it."