And the former Portugal boss warned City, who host the Londoners on Saturday, it might take them a decade or more to realise their dream of becoming one of the world's elite clubs.

Scolari confirmed that City, whose takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group last month has made them richer than Chelsea, had approached him when the club was owned by Thaksin Shinawatra.

He said: "Yes, they offered it (the manager's job) 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."

Scolari decided instead to succeed Avram Grant at Chelsea, with the announcement being made in June while Portugal were still playing the Euro 2008 finals.

At that time City were in the process of finding a replacement for Sven-Goran Eriksson and were eventually able to lure Mark Hughes away from Blackburn.

Hughes' new-found wealth saw City come close to landing Dimitar Berbatov from Spurs on transfer deadline day - and sensationally pip Chelsea for Real Madrid's Robinho for a record £32million fee.

The Brazilian will now be playing against Chelsea - whose assistant manager Steve Clarke tendered his resignation today amid reports of interest from new West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola - but Scolari warned that City still had plenty of catching up to do.

He said: "You need results, you need to win games. It is not just about buying one or two players to become the best club in England and the world, you need to win.

"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 10 in the world. Manchester are starting to move towards this."

Scolari insisted he was not jealous of City's superior wealth.

He said: "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."

City are on a high after wins against West Ham and Sunderland and tomorrow will also see the home debut of Shaun Wright-Phillips, the winger Scolari decided was surplus to requirements at Chelsea.

The focus will be on Robinho, however, and Scolari was reluctant to appear too disappointed that he would not be playing for Chelsea.

He said: "He is one more player for Manchester City, nothing different. Robinho is one player who I said was very good.

"He was in Brazil, then with Real Madrid and now Manchester City. He is a player for Manchester City - it's finished."

Chelsea have problems in midfield with Michael Essien and Michael Ballack out injured and John Obi Mikel not fully fit.

Didier Drogba makes his long-awaited comeback following a knee injury but is unlikely to be asked to play 90 minutes.

Joe Cole received a cut to the head while helping England to a 4-1 victory in Croatia in midweek and could therefore miss out.

Scolari said: "It will be difficult because I have problems.

"Ballack is still injured. He tried to train with us but it was impossible. I have Mikel back in normal training this week but he is not ready 100%. But he is ready to help us.

"And Didier is 60 or 70% ready so it is important I say to the Chelsea fans that we have a few problems and that the players are trying to solve them. They are trying to help the coach."