Manchester City are here for the long haul, admits Ryan Giggs - The Sport Review

Ryan Giggs believes Manchester City have the potential to compete regularly with Manchester United for the Premier League title for the foreseeable future.

The 38-year-old, who recently signed a new one-year deal at Old Trafford, admitted the Red Devils face a challenge matching City's spending power and their unrivalled squad depth.

"With the quality they've got, we knew that they were going to be right up there," Giggs told United's website.

"But as well as putting all those players together, they needed to have that consistency which you can see they've developed now because they're top of the league.

"We know that it's a challenge, we know what lies ahead and now we'll just have to see what happens.

"You can't ignore the money and the quality they've got, and their strength in depth. It's just keeping all those players happy.

"They're obviously trying to lay the foundations for 10, 20, 30 years. Whether it happens or not we'll have to wait and see."

Giggs, who is on the verge of making his 900th United appearance, concedes Roberto Mancini's side are favourites for the title – but the former Welsh international is optimistic the Red Devils can still retain their crown if they can avoid further injuries.

"I think in most people's eyes they [Manchester City] are favourites because they're top of the league, and because of the quality they've got, and the football they played early season," added Giggs.

"It's just down to which team handles the pressure the best. Tottenham are up there as well. You always need that little bit of luck with injuries and decisions – hopefully it'll go for us.

"I think the experience of doing it before, with the manager. Saying that, they've got a lot of experience, they've got players who've won things.

"But we like to think we've got a good mix of experience and hunger: we've got older players who've been there, and younger players who haven't and really want to win things, so hopefully that's in our favour."

19 Feb, 2012