Roman Abramovich approves signing of at least three players after Chelsea’s sloppy start

England: Roman Abramovich is ready to green-light a spending splurge after seeing his Chelsea side outclassed by title rivals Manchester City.

The champions were left reeling by Sunday’s 3-0 defeat at the Etihad. And manager Jose Mourinho’s shock decision to sub captain John Terry at half-time has been widely interpreted as a sign of his unhappiness about the strength of his squad and, in particular, his defence.

Now, Abramovich, the Londoners' Russian billionaire owner, is set to hand Mourinho the money needed to bolster that squad before the transfer window closes in two weeks’ time.

Mourinho is targeting at least three signings.

Chelsea have stepped up their attempts to land Everton defender John Stones - after having bids of £20million and £26m rejected they have now offered £30m, though the Toffees value the 21-year-old England international at £34m - and Mourinho also wants another central midfielder and a minimum of one more attacking player.

The Stamford Bridge club have had a less eye-catching summer transfer window compared to some of their rivals, limiting spending to roughly what they have brought in from sales.

In terms of players competing for first-team spots, they have only replaced the departed trio of goalkeeper Petr Cech, striker Didier Drogba and left-back Filipe Luis with, respectively, Asmir Begovic, Radamel Falcao and, on Monday, Abdul Baba Rahman.

Club chiefs accept Mourinho’s concern that there are a number of positions in the team lacking the kind of impressive competition for the starting role enjoyed by Manuel Pellegini’s line-up at City.

And the home bench illustrated the depth enjoyed at the Etihad, compared to that in the Chelsea squad.

City's subs were Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy, Martin Demichelis, Samir Nasri and Wilfried Bony, plus reserve keeper Willy Cabellero and young forward Kelechi Iheanacho; in contrast, the visitors' reserves included youngsters Kurt Zouma, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Jamal Blackman and little-used Juan Cuadrado in amongst Jon Obi Mikel, Radamel Falcao and Loic Remy.

Terry, meanwhile, is expected to be back in the line-up for Sunday’s trip to West Brom after being subbed at the Etihad for the first time in 177 games.

The defender, who turns 35 in December, had returned early for pre-season to work on his fitness ahead of the new season.

He is understood to have responded positively to being replaced on Sunday and emerged to sit with his team-mates in the bench area during the second half.