Manchester United chief executive David Gill says Sir Alex Ferguson’s side will overcome Chelsea this season- despite the Blues’ huge resources….
“Chelsea do what they do and what they can afford,” Gill told BBC Radio Manchester. “We have to do what Manchester United does best. We are not saying we cannot compete because we feel we can. We have the team to compete, the squad to compete and we are looking forward to the new season.”
United have brought in midfielder Michael Carrick for �18.6m, but that transfer has been dwarfed by Chelsea’s summer recruitment of Michael Ballack, Andriy Shevchenko, Mikel John Obi and Salomon Kalou.
But Gill believes United are in good shape ahead of the start of the Premiership season on Saturday:
“Increasing the capacity of the stadium produces a lot of revenue for us. We will also continue to bring young players through the academy and we will compete in the transfer market as we see fit. If you look at the players in our squad, the likes of Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, we have a lot of players many teams would envy.”
A year on after United’s takeover by the Glazer family Gill insisted the “scare stories” over the club’s purchase had proved unfounded.
“The club is in good shape to face the various challenges both in the Premier League and Europe. There was a lot of comment about the takeover but the Glazer family have let us get on with running the club. People understand they are here for the long-term. They are investing for the long-term and we are looking to produce results, on and off the pitch, to justify that investment.”