Chelsea boss Antonio Conte says they cannot compete with the Premier League's biggest spending clubs.

Indeed, the Italian fears Manchester United and Manchester City's financial power makes them “dangerous" to world football.

Conte admits his club lost out to United in the race to sign Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez because of the player's huge wages.

He said: “Only one or two clubs can pay this type of salary.

"If you want a player, you are faced with this reality. We never were in this race, ever.

"Especially because, I repeat, one of the reasons was this amount of salary."

Conte added: “If you continue to have this type of gap — it's not only in England ­— these two big clubs can become seriously dangerous for other teams in the world. They are strong already and want to invest."

The Italian manager also lost out to United in the battle to sign £75million striker Romelu Lukaku last summer.

Conte said: “It depends upon the players you want.

"If you have money, you can have the best. Otherwise you find other ways to stand up and fight."