Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has revealed he turned down an offer from Manchester City before going to Stamford Bridge.
And the former Portugal boss warned City, who host the Londoners tomorrow, 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.
But Scolari insisted he was not jealous of City's new-found 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.''
source: soccernet
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