London, December 24 :

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has signaled an end to his days of extravagant spending in the transfer market. The Russian billionaire also denied he’ll lose interest in his Premier League club any time soon.

Since Abramovich took over Chelsea in 2003, the club has spent some $540 million on transfers. This year alone, Chelsea has signed striker Andriy Shevchenko on a British-record transfer fee of $59 million and agreed to pay midfielder Michael Ballack one of the highest wages in world soccer. “Our strategy is to bring up our own players through the academy, which we have invested a lot in, and we hope that will give results,” Abramovich said in his first interview in three years, with The Observer published on Sunday. “We will be spending less in the transfer market in future years.”

Abramovich dismissed talk that his influence threatened to turn soccer into an elitist sport and denied he wanted Chelsea to play in a European “Super League.” “I don’t see the risk of that,” he said. “Money plays an important role in football but it is not the dominating factor.

“I don’t have an opinion about Chelsea playing in a Super League,” he added. “My feeling would be that you lose something of the beauty of the Premiership by joining something not defined at the moment.”

“When Chelsea play a Carling Cup (League Cup) game in a small city and it could result in a draw — the excitement, the spirit, the atmosphere — that’s the real beauty of football in England.”

In inflating soccer’s transfer market, Chelsea’s methods have also been questioned. Last year the club was found guilty of illegally approaching defender Ashley Cole while he was still under contract with Arsenal. Cole moved to Chelsea in August.