Ferguson prepared for City challenge

Alex Ferguson insists Manchester United will handle Manchester City’s emergence just as they did Chelsea’s a number of seasons ago.

Roman Abramovich took over the west London club in 2003 and went on to assemble a hugely expensive squad, winning back-to-back Premier League titles under Jose Mourinho.

Ferguson has since claimed that their experience of handling Chelsea’s emergence as title hopefuls has prepared the current champions for Sheikh Mansour’s Eastlands takeover and subsequent spending spree.

“The indications this would happen were there of course,” Ferguson told MUTV. “They weren’t buying any kids. They brought a good deal of experience.”

“But that shouldn’t frighten us. We have a job to do being Manchester United, as we have proved over the years.”

“How we handled the Chelsea situation will hopefully apply itself again.”

Following the Blues’ successes in 2005 and 2006, United went on to win three consecutive titles and have finished top of the pile in four of the last five seasons.

The 70-year-old has seen a number of threats to his side’s dominance at the top of English football during his 25-year tenure at Old Trafford, and Ferguson has conceded that Tottenham are firmly within a chance of winning the Premier League this season.

“Tottenham are a threat,” he said. “You can’t dismiss them. They are playing fantastic football.”

“Somewhere along the line one of those three teams are going to win the league.”