Revealed: How BBC Sport’s ruthless new boss finally solved Aunt’s ‘Lineker problem’ – as we reveal his leading candidate to replace him, writes KATIE HIND

When Alex Kay-Jelski was given the prestigious role of BBC sports director in April, he knew he had to shake things up. And fast.

Kay-Jelski had to solve two immediate problems. The first was pressure from on high to attract a younger audience. The second, and more pressing issue, involved Gary Lineker, the presenter of Match of the Day, who repeatedly caused the Corporation headaches over impartiality issues.

Hiring Lineker, who is paid £1.35 million a year by the BBC, was a formidable task that many staffers had avoided over the years.

After weeks of speculation, it was confirmed on Tuesday that former striker Gary Lineker will retire from MOTD at the end of the season

It took Alex Kay-Jelski (pictured) just seven months to part ways with the BBC’s biggest earner, after a high-stakes standoff that included an offer from Lineker to take a £350,000 pay cut

However, Kay-Jelski took just seven months to remove the BBC’s biggest earner, after a high-stakes standoff that included an offer from Lineker to take a £350,000 pay cut.

Yesterday, after weeks of speculation that 63-year-old Lineker would leave MOTD, it was confirmed that the former striker will step down at the end of this season. He will provide BBC coverage of the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the US, as well as next season’s FA Cup.

Last night it was reported that he has already left the presenting line-up for the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year awards ceremony in December.

A BBC insider tells me: ‘Gary spent so many years doing what he loved at the BBC.

Kay-Jelski is already said to be discussing Lineker’s job with Alex Scott, host of Football Focus and former England Lioness. “He just thinks she would be great,” said a BBC source

“Alex wasn’t afraid, though. He knew he didn’t have to wait long and make a change, and it was virtually an open secret at the BBC that Alex wanted to change things when it came to Gary. What a coup for him.’

In fact, the Mail can reveal that Kay-Jelski is already discussing Lineker’s job with Alex Scott, the Football Focus presenter and former England Lioness. “He just thinks she would be great,” said a BBC source.

Rumors that Lineker would leave the BBC, which first appeared in the Mail, circulated after a draft press release announcing his departure was leaked in October.

At the time it sparked anger among Team Lineker, who said: ‘Gary does not deserve to be treated in this way – he has been an excellent servant of the BBC for 25 years.’

But this week Lineker appeared to be the first to make good on his word – and on Monday he told his favorite newspaper, The Sun, that the rumors were true.

“He wants to leave on a high,” said a source close to him.

The BBC could ‘see through’ the star’s PR strategy, a source says. And so, at 10am yesterday, the news that Kay-Jelski had won his war with Lineker was confirmed in a short, cold statement: ‘The BBC and Gary Lineker have agreed in principle to a contract extension through to the 2026 World Cup.’

Lineker said in his own statement: ‘I am pleased to continue my long association with BBC Sport and would like to thank everyone who made this possible.’

So what changed in the month between the leaked draft announcement and the announcement released yesterday?

Sources tell me that dethroning Lineker was not easy. Working on behalf of the footballer was his formidable agent Jon Holmes, who has been conducting his negotiations for decades. He is known to staunchly defend Lineker and has been briefing for weeks that his client would leave the BBC ‘when he wants to’.

“Jon has been by Gary’s side for years and you certainly don’t want to get on the wrong side of him,” said an industry insider. ‘This time Team Lineker failed to keep him on TV. Maybe times really are changing.

‘Even the offer of a pay cut of up to £350,000 wasn’t enough, so there must have been a huge shift in power eventually. There would always be a stalemate; both sides fought hard for what they wanted.” When told by Team Lineker that it was his decision to quit, Corporation culture editor Katie Razzall yesterday claimed it was not.

“Lineker was open to staying at MOTD, but the BBC did not offer him a new contract for the show,” she said.

Despite the efforts of Kay-Jelski – described by former colleagues as a ‘no-nonsense man’ – Holmes staged a major coup during the negotiations.

Lineker at MOTD in 2016 when he hosted the show at Leicester City boxers after his beloved team won the Premier League

The BBC agreed to stream one episode a week of The Rest Is Football – Lineker’s hugely lucrative podcast with his MOTD sidekicks Alan Shearer and Micah Richards – on BBC Sounds from next month.

It is of course produced by Lineker’s production company Goalhanger, which is also behind podcasts such as The Rest Is History and The Rest Is Politics, which together have more than 40 million downloads per month.

The amount the BBC will pay for the podcast is unknown, but is expected to be in the low six figures. What happens next is firmly in Kay-Jelski’s hands.

The 40-year-old replaced veteran Barbara Slater when she retired after 15 years. He was poached by director general Tim Davie of the American sports website The Athletic.

Kay-Jelski started his career as a sub-editor at the Mail, before working his way up to the role of sports director and moving to The Times as sports editor.

He was criticized after writing a column in 2019 in which he said athletes who spoke out about trans issues, such as Martina Navratilova, were “not experts,” and that biological males competing in women’s sports was “not a big deal.”

But colleagues call him “staunchly professional.” BBC sources say it is ‘very likely’ he will appoint a woman to the role of Lineker, and alongside Alex Scott, Gabby Logan, ITV’s Laura Woods and Sky’s Kelly Cates have been named.

Meanwhile, Mark ‘Chappers’ Chapman, the popular presenter of MOTD’s sister programme, is still in the running – although some at the BBC believe his appointment will not be ‘enough of a shake-up’.

“Alex has done the unthinkable and taken Gary out, so now we’re all waiting to see if he gets the next bit right,” said a BBC source. “But ironically, that can be much more difficult.”