Hot on the heels of Hughes’ declaration that he is well up for the ‘clash of the cash’ this evening, and City’s new Brazilian superstar threatening to make sure Chelsea regret not signing him (just wait til he susses he ain’t playing in red and that blue kit Hughes showed him means he really is playing for Man City), Scolari’s thrown in a little gem of his own – just like Hughes wasn’t Robinho’s first choice, it turns out he wasn’t City’s either.

You see, it seems that whilst looking for someone to take over from Sven-Goran Eriksson, City offered the job to Scolari before eventually settling for Hughes. Speaking prior to our game at the newly named ‘Middle Eastlands’, Scolari confirmed “Yes, they offered it to me. It was a very good offer, but at that time I was with Portugal and I said I needed time to think. They came to Portugal and they talked to me about their ideas for the team in the next three or four years.  It is a project that is not for one or two years but maybe 10 or 15, but it is very good for England and for football that more clubs have projects to get bigger and get into the top ten in the world. Manchester City are starting to move towards this.”

Whilst chatting to the press, Scolari also cleared up the issue over whether or not he came to Chelsea for the seriously large pay packet they offered, and suggested “I didn’t come to Chelsea because they were the richest club in the world. I came because they offered me a job that I thought was fantastic. I don’t think about who is the richest club in the world. If it is Manchester City or Milan, for me there is no difference. I am concentrating only on my players and not what happens elsewhere. If I am happy in my house, I don’t look at other houses because I need to look after my house first and my house is Chelsea.”

So how did the Chelsea boss feel when the club he’d turned down were taken over by the Adu Dhabi United Group, who’s vast riches enabled them to come in a steal Robinho from under his nose? Well, as far as the Brazilian is concerned, that’s no big deal. “He is one more player for Manchester City, nothing different,” he shrugged. “Robinho is one player who I said was very good. He was in Brazil, then with Real Madrid and now Manchester City – it’s finished.”

Scolari also added, like most other people who’ve commented on City’s new found riches, that buying the best does not necessarily make you the best, suggesting “It is not just about buying one or two players to become the best club in England and the world, you need to win.”

Let’s just hope they don’t do that today though!

Filed under: Rants