MANCHESTER CITYS dramatic capture of Robinho has left Big Phil Scolari angry and let down.

The Chelsea boss saw the Brazil striker as the missing piece in his Blues jigsaw.

HO DEAR ... Robinho was the missing piece in Phil Scolari's Stamford Bridge jigsaw

And it was understood that the manager is bitterly frustrated that his Stamford Bridge outfit did not equal Citys deadline-day bid for the player.

The clubs record of paying over-the-odds for less talented players than Robinho has left Scolari mystified at their actions.

And a source close to Scolari said: Its no secret that Chelsea has paid a lot of money for players in the last few years.

"Some of those players have been successful and others not so.

Felipe understands the budget has a limit but feels that he did not ask too much of the club.

He bought Deco for £8million and made it clear how important Robinho was to his plans for the season.

FUMING ... Phil Scolari

So he is entitled to feel let down that the club would not increase its offer by £4m to get the player.

He is too professional to make a fuss but this is a blow.

Chelsea originally agreed a fee of £28.4m for Robinho and both Scolari (below) and the Blues chief executive officer Peter Kenyon made comments to the effect that the deal was done.

But subsequent rows with Real wrecked that agreement and when news of Citys bid emerged there were late calls between Chelseas hierarchy on what to do.

Billionaire owner Roman Abramovich and Kenyon had agreed they would not meet Reals asking price of £32.5m.

And on Monday evening Robinhos agent, Wagner Ribeiro, assured Chelsea that the player would not sign at Eastlands.

Real would therefore have to sell for a lower fee to Chelsea or keep hold of an unhappy star.

Yet that position changed dramatically as midnight approached and Robinho was told by Real he HAD TO go to City and that he was no longer on the payroll at the Bernabeu.

Real president Ramon Calderon then made it clear that if Chelsea matched Citys bid, he would have no problem letting 24-year-old Robinho move to Stamford Bridge.

Scolari made an 11th-hour call to convince Robinho to snub a City move.

But, minutes later, the player went for a British record £32.5m.

A source close to Robinho, who was present when the Brazil frontman took Scolaris call, recalled: It was all very tense and we could sense Scolaris frustration.

"Throughout the last few weeks Scolari was calling Robinho almost on a daily basis to reassure him that Chelsea would conclude the deal.

Robinho felt he had done everything to put pressure on Madrid to allow him to go to Chelsea. But he made it clear to Scolari that Chelsea had wasted precious time and left him with no option but to go to City.

Robinho was afraid that, after going on all-out attack against manager Bernd Schuster on Sunday, he would spend the season watching from the stands.

He had backed himself into a corner. And Manchester City presented the perfect escape route.

Incredibly, in the end, Robinho agreed to join City without knowing the terms of his five-year contract.

Yet his agent had negotiated a £108,000-a-week deal, £10,000 a week MORE than he would have had at Chelsea.