Fergie dampens City enthusiasm

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City's new-found wealth has already seen them flex their muscle in impressive fashion, smashing the British transfer record by spending £32.5million on Brazilian superstar Robinho, but the Manchester United boss knows only too well it takes more than money to build a winning team.

"It depends how much money they want to throw at it but even then it doesn't always work," he said. "You can buy 11 individuals and not have a team as Sunderland proved."

He added: "When Chelsea did it we worried because we saw the quality they were bringing in. They got Michael Essien for £27million, which was a level we could not reach. You could tell they would be a handful.

"It is very difficult to say what will happen with City but we should not concern ourselves with what people are planning to do because it does not always work."

What Ferguson can guarantee is that United have no intention of relinquishing their position at the head of the Premier League.

If the Glaswegian can face down Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea, then City should be beatable too, although he will wait for the reality to emerge before he makes an assessment.

"There has been a lot of talk but it is a different matter when it actually comes to getting those players," he said.

"To think they could get Cristiano Ronaldo for instance is absolutely absurd. Negotiations are not easy nowadays, as we found with Dimitar Berbatov.

"Yes, we have bought big players, but Manchester United is not a cash cow, as people are talking about other clubs at the moment. At the moment it is all talk. We have seen it before and it will happen again."