Source: Telegraph
Sir Alex Ferguson unconcerned by Manchester City blueprint
Manchester United v Manchester CityKick-off: Sun May 10, 5.30pm, Old Trafford, ManchesterTV: Sky Sports 1, Sky Sports HD1Radio: BBC Radio 5 Live [LNB]Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and, for a time, even Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United have locked horns with United once the season's silverware comes into view. [LNB] Related ArticlesUnited pessimistic about FletcherUnited v City: Five classicsPredict scores and resultsRedknapp: United will beat BarcaMark Hughes says Manchester City, not United, are his top priorityHow Arsenal can beat Manchester UnitedBut City? Not once has Ferguson been troubled by the blue half of Manchester in a direct battle for success. [LNB]Last season's Premier League defeats against City at Eastlands and Old Trafford – a first blue victory on enemy territory since 1974 – proved an irritant for Ferguson, but United still went on to complete a league and Champions League double. [LNB]The whole dynamic of the United-City relationship was turned on its head in the space of 24 hours last September, however, when Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan's takeover at Eastlands left City with a fistful of winning euromillions tickets in their hand. [LNB]They now had more money than United and the petro-dollar fuelled ambition to take them on head-to-head. Yet nine months on, the City revolution is still in a state of flux and United are reaching towards glory again. [LNB]Victory for United on Sunday will take Ferguson's team to within four points of the title and leave City bracing themselves for a failure to qualify for Europe. [LNB]When the Fifa Club World Cup is staged in Abu Dhabi in December, it could be United who are winning hearts and minds among Sheikh Mansour's subjects. [LNB]Little wonder that Ferguson appears unconcerned by City's grand plans to become the cream of Manchester. [LNB]'It really depends on who City buy,' Ferguson insisted. 'It's going to be a busy summer for them and I think there are a lot of clubs, knowing that City have that money, who will add noughts on to every player they go for. [LNB]'That's the hard part for Mark Hughes, to try to value the players he wants at a proper value – his values rather than their values. [LNB]"That's the difficult thing. Clubs don't want to sell their players to anyone. We've had that situation ourselves that some clubs don't want to sell and that's the difficulty you face. A lot depends on what happens in the next year or two.'[LNB]So no fears of City's financial muscle luring United's top targets to the other side of town, then? [LNB]'Well we won't be going for a lot of players ourselves in the summer,' Ferguson said. 'We've got a big squad and I can honestly say there's no one that we've actually identified that we want to bring here.'[LNB]With a Champions League final against Barcelona to look forward to later this month, a spat between neighbours at Old Trafford might appear rather parochial in comparison, but Rome can wait. [LNB]Avenging last season's home defeat – which took place four days after the 50th anniversary of the Munich air crash – and taking a major stride towards retaining the Premier League title is Ferguson's sole focus. [LNB]He said: 'Last season's game was an emotional occasion for everybody. It was difficult to handle and we only realised that afterwards. But that is 14 months ago now. [LNB]"This time we are only four games away from winning the title. We're so close and that is all we can think of. We're so close that it is ours to win in terms of our lead. And in the form we are in, we have a great chance. [LNB]'City will be desperate to win this game. It is natural, it is a derby. Their fans would love to think they could stop us winning the league, but there's nothing wrong with that.'[LNB]Ferguson is likely to recall Dimitar Berbatov and Gary Neville to the starting line-up. [LNB]Darren Fletcher could be rested ahead of Wednesday's trip to Wigan and, despite Uefa's admission that they will consider United's appeal against the red card that will rule him out the Champions League final, Ferguson admits he holds little hope of a reprieve for the Scot. [LNB]He said: 'Sometimes, when everything is addressed, you never know what might happen, but I don't think it will be overturned. [LNB]'The referee made an honest decision, but Darren takes great credit for the way he has handled it all.'[LNB]Manchester United have announced a five-year sponsorship deal with Indian telecom services provider Airtel. [LNB]
