Sir Alex Ferguson believes Manchester City will pose little threat to Manchester United's Premier League crown this season.
City manager Mark Hughes has spent millions building a squad he hopes is capable of breaking into the top four.
But United manager Ferguson said: "It won't be easy for them to win anything, even with the players they have bought.
"I can't look at them as our main competitors. Liverpool and Chelsea are our main competitors."
Emmanuel Adebayor is the latest addition to City's squad, which has already been boosted by the arrival of Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz and former United favourite Carlos Tevez.
606: DEBATEStriker Adebayor was signed from Arsenal for about £25m, midfielder Barry came from Aston Villa for £12m, Paraguayan frontman Santa Cruz cost £18m from Blackburn, while City paid £25m for Tevez.
Many United fans are unhappy at Tevez's departure but Ferguson feels the Argentine was not worth the money his advisers wanted to turn his "lease" period into a permanent deal.
"I didn't think he was worth £25m - that's just my judgement, maybe I am wrong," stated Ferguson.
"The fans quite rightly have their heroes and I respect them, so I was happy to go along with a deal as long as it was the right one - but he was simply not worth £25m."
Hughes, who already has Brazilian forward Robinho in his squad, also wants to strengthen City's defence.
He has had an approach for Everton's Joleon Lescott rejected and is keen to land Chelsea captain John Terry.
"Arsenal have the biggest job to do because they have sold Adebayor and don't seem to have the money the rest have"
Ferguson says Terry would be a good addition.
"If I was in City's shoes, with all that kind of money, then I would have a go at that," he revealed. "I think it's sensible. He has experience and is the England captain.
"For some reason they must have known that he was interested. I am sure there have been plenty of phone calls going on."
While City continue to splash the cash, United have kept transfer dealings to a minimum.
They have sold winger Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for a world record £80m and have so far acquired Michael Owen, Antonio Valencia and Gabriel Obertan.
But Ferguson still believes the only place City can challenge his side is in the battle for newspaper headlines and believes Hughes will have a hard time trying to make his team gel.
"They have bought a lot of high-profile players but they have 10 strikers," said the Scot.
"That is a hell of a lot. I have not spoken to all the managers but the one or two I have are saying 'Who are they going to leave out?'
"How does he pick a team? We are all interested."
Ferguson also thinks Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger faces a huge challenge following the loss of star striker Adebayor to City.
"Arsenal have the biggest job to do because they have sold Adebayor and don't seem to have the money the rest have," said Ferguson.
"How Arsene develops his team will be his biggest test.
"The one thing we know about Arsenal is that they will play some of the best football you will see and create chances. They could easily re-establish themselves and challenge for the league again."
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