fergie:chelsea will be united greatest threat

@LastßornNews(07060428346)

Sir Alex Ferguson believes
Chelsea will be the greatest
threat to Manchester United
for the Premier League title
next season, provided Jose
Mourinho returns to his former side. - Manchester derby preview The United manager is on
course to win a 20th league
title with the Red Devils,
currently 15 points clear of
holders Manchester City, and
he has the opportunity to put further daylight between the
Red Devils and their bitter
rivals when they clash in the
derby on Monday night at Old
Trafford. Although United are coasting
to this year's championship,
Ferguson has warned his team
will not ease up next season.
"We've got a lot of youth in
the team, there's no doubt about that," he said. "The
record over the last 20 years
tells you we're not going away.
So I'd expect us without doubt
to have a real good challenge
next year." While the Scot is confident of
United being in the title tussle,
the 71-year-old feels Chelsea
will be right in contention,
dependent on whether
Mourinho decides to come back to Stamford Bridge. Ferguson's
failure to mention Liverpool is
perhaps a sign he believes
Brendan Rodgers will not be
able to conjure up a challenge
from Merseyside. "You'd expect - if Jose goes
back to Chelsea - a big
challenge there," Ferguson
said. "[Manchester] City won't
go away, with the money
they've got. And I think Arsenal will improve - there's
some indication that Arsenal
are building a better squad
than people think and
Tottenham have been
progressing for a couple of years now. "So it's a hard league to win,
there's no doubt about that.
But at this moment in time we
just need to concentrate on
winning the league this year." Mourinho was in charge of
Chelsea for four seasons, with
the Portuguese delivering
Premier League titles in his
first two campaigns and lifting
four more trophies during his tenure. The man who has so often
been tipped to replace
Ferguson at United guided Real
Madrid to the Primera Liga last
season as they toppled
Barcelona, but a fallout with the club's hierarchy and
reported unrest in the
dressing room make his
departure from the Bernabeu
likely come the end of the
season.