Manchester United are ready to tackle head on any challenge from super-rich neighbours Manchester City, manager Alex Ferguson said on Thursday. But Chelsea and Liverpool, equal top on points in the Premier League, remain United's biggest threat for the time being, he added.
City, flush with money following the take-over earlier this year by their new Abu Dhabi owners, are at home to United in the Manchester derby at Eastlands on Sunday (1330 GMT). After buying Brazilian forward Robinho for a British record transfer fee of 32.5 million pounds ($50.18 million) in August, City are poised to try and make more major signings in the January transfer window.
"It was an immediate impact and what we had to do was sit back and accept this challenge," Ferguson said. "We experienced it with Chelsea when (Roman) Abramovich came in and bought all those players that summer and they won the league in the next two years," Ferguson told reporters.