Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor has told Sir Alex Ferguson: We will finish above Manchester United this season. "The goal is not to be bigger than Manchester United, but to be bigger than everybody," he told the News of the World.

"We want to dominate both England and Europe, so that doesn't mean being bigger than just Chelsea or Manchester United, but bigger than Madrid and AC Milan as well.

"When people are picking City over the biggest clubs in Europe you know that we must be on the brink of something very special. I don't think it will be long before we are the top team in Manchester. People talk about it being in a year's time, but I have the belief it can be this season. With the squad we have I see no reason why we can't do amazing things this year."