Luiz Felipe Scolari issued an ominous statement of intent to Chelsea’s domestic and European rivals last night by declaring that his new team are capable of winning an unprecedented quadruple. Chelsea finished as runners-up in the Champions League, Barclays Premier League and Carling Cup last season, but Scolari believes that under his leadership they can win all four trophies that they will contest during the forthcoming campaign.

In seeking to distance himself from José Mourinho, Scolari has succeeded in avoiding the Portuguese’s brash tone, although he clearly shares the confidence of his predecessor but one. In the opulent surroundings of the team hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Scolari claimed to possess the Midas touch, arguing that if his team got themselves to finals he would do the rest, a stark contrast with Avram Grant, the former Chelsea first-team coach. The Malaysian capital holds fond memories for him because Brazil trained here in the build up to winning the 2002 World Cup.

“I say to the players, ‘Look, you have confidence in yourselves and after this, the rest is my problem,’ ” Scolari said. “The players have confidence. They arrived last year in three finals. That’s very good for me. I want to arrive in finals. If we arrive in finals I am happy. After this I know the way to win and the players know that too.

“We have four competitions this season and I will try to win four competitions. My players will do the same. It’s very difficult, but we have the players for this. We have everything that Chelsea have given to me and everything that I want.”

Such is Scolari’s self-belief that after less than three weeks at the club he is willing to reveal that he knows at least three-quarters of his starting lineup for Chelsea’s opening match of the season against Portsmouth on August 17. The Brazilian is planning to follow the example of Mourinho by building his team around a group of so-called untouchables, with Petr Cech, John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Michael Essien, Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba believed to form the core of the side.

“I always build my team around a group of key players. Because I’ve now had 15 days with the players, I now know who is important for us in more games than other players,” Scolari said. “We need to build one team, but one or two or three or five players in some games are more important than other players. Maybe the other teams are thinking that if this player plays he’ll be a big problem. I knew a lot before I came here, but now I know which players are more important to me for each situation.”

Scolari’s squad building is almost complete, although Peter Kenyon, the chief executive, confirmed that Chelsea will make a formal bid for Robinho, the Real Madrid forward, in the next few days.

Robinho’s arrival would almost certainly precipitate the departure of Shaun Wright-Phillips, who is wanted by Harry Redknapp, the Portsmouth manager. “Shaun has done a good job until now and the players love him, but the decision is not only for me, it’s for the board,” Scolari said.