Manchester United news: Rio Ferdinand reveals the moment he realised Manchester City were ‘not going away’

Manchester United news: Rio Ferdinand reveals the moment he realised Manchester City were ‘not going away’
Rio Ferdinand has recalled the moment he and his Manchester United team-mates realised Manchester City were there for the long haul.City were purchased by the Abu Dhabi United Group in August 2008 and what followed was a flurry of bids for high-profile players.2

Rio Ferdinand has spoken about Manchester City’s sustained success

They broke the British transfer record when they signed Robinho for 32.5million.In the decade that followed they have won the Premier League three times and continue to set new standards under manager Pep Guardiola.Speaking on BT Sport, Ferdinand said: I thought it was going to be a fly by. They had an owner who came before, that didn’t end too well.Did Robinho come at this stage as well? You think that’s going to be their great big signing. Then all of a sudden they sign Tevez as well. That was when you started to think ‘hold on a minute’. And then Yaya came, David Silva.

"I was sitting there with Giggsy and the guys thinking 'this is going to be serious, they aren't going away.'"A fascinating chat on how Man City grew into the club they are now, with players from both the red and blue side of the city… pic.twitter.com/sUwv9foVEd— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 20, 2019

We were sitting there – me, Gary Neville, Giggsy, the guys – this is going to be serious, these guys are not going away in two or three years’ time – they’re here for the long haul and they’ve put their forks in the ground and they’re starting to build for the future.Owen Hargreaves joined United in 2007 and won the Premier League and Champions League in his first season at the club.2

Manchester City have won the Premier League three times in the last decade

After an injury plagued four seasons he crossed the divide and joined City in 2011 for one season, but only played four times.Hargreaves said Sir Alex Ferguson knew what was coming from the blue half of Manchester.Sir Alex – he knew they were going to be virtually impossible to stop,” the former midfielder explained. He knew this blue wave was coming. They’ve set the tone for everyone else in this league and now it’s catch up because City are that far ahead. Joleon Lescott, who was also speaking on BT Sport, said claims that players only joined City for money gave them added motivation to succeed.Lescott, who joined City from Everton in 2009, said: That extra motivation of people – players, fans, pundits – only assuming we went there for money. No one assumed we went there to win the title.

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WSN have worked out how many football-related arrests each top-flight side received last season, and Starsport have ranked every current Prem team by the amount they had - from least to most. CLICK THROUGH THE GALLERY ABOVE TO SEE EVERY PREMIER LEAGUE CLUB RANKED BY THE NUMBER OF FOOTBALL-RELATED ARRESTS THEIR SUPPORTERS RECEIVED LAST SEASON.
Every Premier League team ranked by number of fan arrests

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