Luiz Felipe Scolari has told Didier Drogba and other unsettled Chelsea players to forget about leaving the club. The Chelsea manager has spelt out to the squad that no one will be allowed to move during the January transfer window and that they cannot expect to collect similar wages anywhere else.

Scolari has waited his entire career to be paid top money at a leading European club, his £5 million-a-year salary being more than double the value of his previous highest contract, and feels that some of his players do not appreciate how fortunate they are, particularly in the present economic climate.

Drogba has frequently complained of being underpaid compared with the likes of Frank Lampard and John Terry but will get no sympathy from Scolari, who has told him that even Inter Milan will struggle to improve on his £98,000-a-week wages. The Ivory Coast striker met an Inter official in London last week, but has been told that he must stay at Chelsea until the summer.

Scolari's determination to keep his existing squad together lessens the likelihood of any arrivals next month, because Chelsea are moving towards being self-funding. Roman Abramovich, the owner, will still make money available for the signing of an exceptional player, although there is a general acceptance at Chelsea that they will be unable to find anyone to meet their requirements in January.

Scolari received support yesterday from Terry, who praised the manager's tactical acumen and described him as a friend to the players. “Scolari's been a great signing and brought in a lot of new ideas,” the Chelsea captain said. “Tactically he's very good. We're doing a lot more tactical work, which has helped us a lot at certain times in games. He's a great man, too. He gets on well with everyone. “Away from the training pitch he's like one of our friends, but on the training pitch he's got the complete respect of the whole squad.”