Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon said yesterday that he was not worried that Manchester United have taken over the mantle of Premier League big spenders.
United have gotten a headstart in the big money summer transfers, bringing in Owen Hargreaves, Nani and Anderson, as well as attempting to tie up a deal with Carlos Tevez.
Chelsea have been more modest with Steve Sidwell, Tal Ben Haim and Claudio Pizarro already recruited, Brazil defender Alex set to join from PSV Eindhoven and negotiations continuing with Lyon for Florent Malouda.
And Kenyon underlined that they were trying to move away from relying on the billions of owner Roman Abramovich in their bid to wrest the Premiership title back from United.
"I think it surprised everybody how quick they [United] came out and what they spent," Kenyon said. "I'm not worried about what we've spent. We always look at how they've spent versus how we've spent and that's fine but I don't think it's all about money."
Chelsea are negotiating new contracts for Frank Lampard and John Terry, with a degree of uncertainty over their futures at the club while discussions continue.
Kenyon has not received bids for the pair and insists any approach would be rejected.
"Revenue from the sale of those players is not even factored into our thinking," he said. "They are all professional, we're professional and you couldn't put a value on them saying we're going to sell them. I expect them to stay."
Kenyon also distanced the club from a move for Tottenham's Pascal Chimbonda and Sevilla's Dani Alves, who are both right-backs.
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