Source: SKY_Sports
Santa Cruz aiming for glory
Manchester City striker Roque Santa Cruz believes that it is "a matter of time" before his side are challenging for top honours in the Premier League.
The Paraguayan moved to Eastlands in a deal worth £17million over the summer and is confident his new club will soon be in the title race.
He has also set his sights on overhauling neighbours Manchester United as the city's most successful club.
"It won't be easy to catch them but that's our aim," Santa Cruz told The Guardian.
"You have the history of Manchester United and the fact they have been very successful, so they will always be a big club. But it is just a matter of time."
Santa Cruz also hit out at Red Devils' manager Alex Ferguson, who has recently dismissed the new challenge posed by Mark Hughes' side.
"There's no doubt Alex Ferguson has been great for Manchester United and that, usually, his word is very worthy," the 27-year-old added.
"But on this occasion I think there might be a bit of jealousy when he sees how much we have spent.
"Every coach wants the best players and I think it is him feeling a bit of pressure because, deep down, he knows what City can mean to all these big clubs."
The former Blackburn player's departure from Ewood Park left many of the club's fans unsatisfied, feeling that Santa Cruz should have been more respectful to the side that brought him to the Premier League.
But the episode has also disappointed the player himself, who claims that some of his views were misrepresented by the press.
Santa Cruz said: "It is disappointing because I had a fantastic relationship with the fans in the past. In the end, no matter what I tried to do, it just went from bad to worse.
"The club were fighting relegation, changing managers, and there were strange things coming out in the press from interviews I was supposed to have given in Paraguay.
"I did some interviews saying I would like to play for a bigger club but the translations were not right and it looked as though I was criticising Blackburn.
"The local paper didn't help me at all and, of course, the fans read what was in the press and believed it. It was very hard to control and it didn't seem to stop for months.
"I had talked about being ambitious and wanting to play for a bigger club and sometimes that can really hurt the supporters of the club you are playing for. But those were my feelings."
