CHELSEA HAVE informed Luiz Felipe Scolari that the €12.96 million they received from the sale of Wayne Bridge to Manchester City is available to him for transfers following the season-ending injury to Joe Cole. But the club will not go far above that limit, ruling out a move for Robinho.

Robinho reportedly wants to leave Eastlands after falling out with the manager, Mark Hughes, and Scolari would be keen to land the player he missed out on last summer, but the €35.1 million fee that the Brazilian would command falls far outside his budget.

Scolari has been informed, though, that the club intend to increase spending markedly on players during the summer to end the period of frugality – ordered by the billionaire owner Roman Abramovich – which has so far made the €8.64 million Deco the only player Scolari has paid money for since he replaced Avram Grant in the summer.

The manager, who also signed Mineiro on a free last August, has been told that the knee-ligament injury Cole suffered in Chelsea’s 4-1 victory over Southend in the FA Cup last week means he can now consider options, and that if the correct player is identified there may be scope for him to spend slightly more than the money yielded by the sale of Bridge.

Scolari will be relieved he can look for a replacement for Cole as a refusal may well have been interpreted as a snub to him from the club’s hierarchy.

Chelsea’s chief executive, Peter Kenyon, also offered his support to Scolari while playing down the decrease in the club’s spending power and denying Abramovich’s interest in Chelsea is waning. “We have taken sound financial decisions recently regarding trimming costs,” he said. “He [Scolari] has said consistently that he doesn’t want random replacements if we can’t get the players he identified. We have a long-term plan with him and will build on what we have achieved so far.”

Kenyon claimed he is happy Chelsea no longer have the greatest resources at their disposal. “We’re delighted not to be the richest any more and other clubs may spend more without having as much success on the pitch,” he said of Chelsea’s spending power, which has fallen behind City and QPR.

“This would dispel the idea that we have just bought our titles. Our financial accounts for 2007-08 are published in February and any notions about the owner losing interest are dispelled in that. The owner does not have to sell Chelsea and he doesn’t want to.”

Kenyon added that next year will mark a levelling-off of the club’s operating loss. “We have had investment of €648 million in the last five-and-a-half years with excellent facilities and football during that time. Next year we expect our operating profit to break even.”

Meanwhile, Scolari has not ruled out an FA Cup return for striker Didier Drogba. Scolari has left Drogba out of his squad for their last two games.“Maybe for next week Didier is together with the squad for the game against Ipswich,” said Scolari.

John Terry is due to return to training today after injuring his back in the pre-match warm-up against Stoke on Saturday.

Guardian Service