Post by Taxigirl on Dec 18, 2003 10:14:03 GMT
Chelsea's acting chief executive Paul Smith says that Roman Abramovich would sanction a whopping £100 million purchase of a new player - should they think he is worth it.
The Russian billionaire has already bankrolled an extravagant summer spending spree for Claudio Ranieri, but the club have warned that he could finance a winter transfer raid.
The Italian coach splashed out over £100 million on 11 players in the summer, but would be allowed to spend nearly as much on a single addition to his squad.
Smith has revealed what Chelsea's Premiership rivals had feared, in that Abramovich would pay whatever it takes to bring the world's top stars to Stamford Bridge.
Smith says they will not be lured into paying over the odds for average players, but said they would not flinch at splashing out £100 million for the right man.
"If Pele was on the market today for £100m then we'd maybe go for him, but we won't pay £30m for Joe Nobody," said Smith.
"If Ruud van Nistelrooy was priced at £60m and we considered it a good investment then we would probably pay that.
"It's not about the fee but about getting good value. We want the right quality and the right value.
"We do care about the money and it's a misconception that we don't. There's not a finite budget but we want to get good value.
"Roman is a businessman and is determined not to get ripped off. We won't pay the tourist price."
Along with van Nistelrooy, it means that the likes of Thierry Henry and Wayne Rooney - who have been linked with moves to Chelsea - would not be out of their range should the club decide they are wanted in the squad.
Ranieri, meanwhile, has challenged his stars to bounce back from their home defeat to Bolton by dumping Aston Villa out of the Carling Cup on Wednesday night.
"It's another day and now I want to see our reaction after the bad defeat we had against Bolton," said Ranieri.
"It's an important competition for us and also for Aston Villa. David O'Leary said at the start of the season that he could not win the league, so everything was about the two cups.
"We know that and we are ready to fight."