SIR ALEX FERGUSON fears bitter rivals Manchester City could be the biggest threat to his sides title chances next season.

Fergie is desperate to help United defend their Premier League title and see his side crowned English champions for a 20th time.

The United boss admits Roberto Mancinis noisy neighbours have become an irritant that cant be ignored any longer.

The billionaires are expected to splash the cash on more big-name signings before the start of the new season to build on the most successful campaign in their history last time out.

Mancinis men finished third in the table and also landed the FA Cup, their first trophy since 1976.

Fergie said: One of that three (Chelsea, Arsenal and City) has really emerged in the last couple of years. Not so long ago they were actually in the Second Division and were never a thorn in our flesh.

Every year we have to contend with Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool nothing changes, one of them will always be a thorn in our flesh. You cannot change history.

Rather than isolating City, Chelsea or Arsenal, one of them will be a thorn in our flesh.

Winning the FA Cup in 1990 saved Fergie from the sack and proved to be the launchpad for his huge success at Old Trafford.

It could be the same for City under Mancini. Fergie thinks the Manchester giants could even find themselves locked in a straight fight for the title.

Fergie, who gives 18.3m keeper David De Gea his debut against Seattle Sounders tomorrow night, added: Winning a trophy does do that. It does you a power of good.

It takes the pressure off the manager, gives the players confidence. Weve experienced it ourselves and we expect them to be challengers next year. If you think for the last four or five years, every time we go to a press conference at the start of the season theres talk of a five-horse race this year for the title.

But I keep saying in the last few weeks there are only two teams. It happened again this year and itll happen again next season. Hopefully well be one of the two.

Fergie has blamed Sunderland for the collapse of Darron Gibsons proposed move to the Stadium of Light.

He said: He was on the point of going and, somewhere along the line, I think Sunderland moved the goalposts.

I suppose their job is to save money. From what I gather they gave him an offer and then changed it.

That annoyed Darron and I think hes quite right. If you cant trust them on day one, then why wait until day two?

Darron was undecided about what to do when we came here and we both felt hed be better staying back. He seems to be in limbo.

DARREN CLARKE has admitted seeing the smile on his kids faces will be worth more than the millions hell coin in as Open champion.

Clarke decided to go sleepless in Sandwich as he made the most of an all-night party to celebrate his stunning triumph.

After swilling gallons of Guinness and red wine at a party that broke up at 8.30am, its fair to say the Ulsterman was feeling no pain the morning after his Major moment.

But the 42-year-old will drink in one more special moment a private party hell savour more than any other when he returns to Portrush and is reunited with kids Tyrone and Conor.

Following the death of wife Heather through cancer in 2006, Clarke has battled to try to make life extra special for his sons, now aged 13 and 10.

They will be set for life thanks to Clarkes prowess on the golf course and the cash hes made in a 21-year pro career.

But its a moment that money cant buy which will mean the most to the new hero of Northern Ireland.

Clarke said: Ive had zero sleep. No surprise there! I probably wont get any sleep until tomorrow.

My view is you have to enjoy it while you can.

I had quite a few pints and quite a few glasses of red wine, but its been a very good night.

I have had 294 text messages and the writing on the phone is too small for me to look at them at this stage.

I will need to wait until tomorrow to figure them out.

But this is a special moment for me and my family. Seeing my name on the Jug is beyond any price, any wealth that may come my way.

Whats most important to me is when I get home and I see my boys with the trophy in their hands and watch them as they see their dads name inscribed on the Jug.

Thats the most important thing. Last night I spoke to the kids on the phone and Ill be home to see them today. Tyrone my oldest one was very pleased and proud.

He said he was going to tell everyone that his dad was Open champion. My younger boy Conor wanted to know what he could spend all the money on! But they were both very happy.

Clarke used to splash buckets of cash on boys toys and still boasts a garage full of fast cars and quad bikes.

But he admits that hes older and wiser now even if he forgot his sensible head for one night to party like a teenager in the wake of his Open win.

He added: Ive been there and done that before, when it comes to buying lots of things.

Im older and wiser now and if I can put a little more aside for my boys in the future, then thats what Ill do, as opposed to looking after myself.

I definitely appreciate things an awful lot more than I did 10 years ago.

Im much more appreciative of what the sponsors do, the players do and Im much more switched on.

I try and play the game the right way sometimes as a professional you lose sight of the fact that it is a game and I try to play in the right manner.

Its all about sportsmanship. Shake hands on the 18th green, have a drink afterwards and say, Thank you very much for the game.

Its not life or death, its a game to enjoy. Thats how I am and how I tell kids in my golf foundation to be as they play the game.

Clarke has been tipped to become a Ryder Cup captain in the future, but he is determined to play on the next team at Chicago in 2012.

So he could be skipper at Gleneagles in 2014 a venue he has slated in the past!

He added: Ive made some disparaging remarks about Gleneagles in the past, but Im the sort of guy who is honest and calls a spade a spade.

It might come back to get me at some point in the future, but I will always stand by what I said.

In terms of me, I would love to be on the next two teams playing, so well see how things work out.

Right now I want to enjoy being Open champion and its a feeling that probably wont fully sink in for a few days.

CARSON YEUNG last night appointed his 18-year-old son to the Birmingham board of directors.

Ryan Yeung, named after Manchester United star Ryan Giggs, is thought to be the youngest director appointed to a professional football club board.

He, along with acting chairman Peter Pannu, will replace Michael Wiseman on a new-look board which comes entirely from the Far East.

The teenagers background is shrouded in mystery but he is known to have been based in London, where he went to school, as well as being an occasional visitor to St Andrews.

His father, Blues controlling shareholder, has been charged with five counts of money laundering to the value of 59m from 2001-2007.

Yeung, who denies the allegations, is next due in court in Hong Kong on August 11 and, if found guilty, could face 14 years in jail.

Some Blues fans have claimed they fear Yeung junior has only been appointed to act on behalf of his father, who is prevented from leaving Hong Kong until his court case is heard.

A Football League spokesman said: Any director of a club, or person who owns more than 30 per cent, has to be certified as fit and proper through our owners and directors test.

Wisemans exit marks the end of formal links between the Wiseman family and Brum spanning 83 years.

The Birmingham businessman, who became a director in 1997, was the sole survivor from the regime of David Gold and David Sullivan following Yeungs 81.5m takeover in October 2009.

Along with Pannu and the Yeungs, chairman Vico Hui is the other member of the new Blues board.

MANCHESTER United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has set his sights on Champions League redemption at the first time of asking.

Fergie will never admit it, but the pain of Mays defeat by Barcelona in the European Cup Final at Wembley is still raw.

Barcas mesmerising 3-1 win, inspired by Lionel Messi, promises to haunt Fergie for years to come after he was forced to admit United had been humbled on home soil.

That wont stop him doing all he can to lift a third European crown as United boss, in the process becoming only the second manager in history after Liverpools Bob Paisley to achieve the feat.

Few would back against Pep Guardiolas Spanish champions making it to another final in 10 months time.

But whether Barca are there or not, one thing is certain Fergie expects United to be lining up in European footballs showpiece event in Munich.

He is still hell-bent on winning another Premier League title, because United fans expect nothing less.

But he admits the challenge is to mastermind another Champions League triumph as well, even though he reckons Barca show no signs of slowing down.

He said: You have to combine the two. The Premier League is such a tribal confrontation between different parts of the country that youre forced into trying to beat them all the time.

You cant get away from that. Im sorry, you cant.

Its not like athletics, where you can programme yourself to win the one mile at Oslo and then maybe wait until Stuttgart to win there, but that could be four or five months apart.

We play every seven days, so youre forced to go for the league.

Our mentality is different. My mentality is different. Ive got to try and show that were challenging for the league all the time and hopefully have the bonus of winning the European Cup.

Weve only won it twice in my time so that shows its not easy to combine the two.

The Barcelona team is a team of its time and its a cycle for them, a fantastic cycle. You cant really see it changing for the next two or three years.

That happens in football. We went 26 years without winning it and hopefully we dont have to wait 26 years for the next one.

It doesnt mean to say it (closing the gap on Barca) can never be achieved. Ive got young players coming into the club that I hope will take inspiration from what we experienced in the final and be the challengers to them.

We tried to win the European Cup our way, but we were outplayed by them. They are just in a great cycle at the moment. They are an exceptionally good team.

Weve done our assessment, looked at the game a million times, and its just one of those things. Theyre a challenge but theyre a challenge to other clubs in Europe.

We will try to move on and get above them, but the target is to be in Munich in May next year. Only then, if its Barca again, can we assess how we are able to cope with that, the change to our team.

We will accept it. Barcelona played better than us the last time and this is the only way we can do it.

One of the main reasons for feeling so positive about the future is the emergence of Mexican hitman Javier Hernandez.

The 23-year-old striker plundered 20 goals in his first season at Old Trafford and Fergie reckons Little Pea is the most gifted forward he has ever worked with in terms of his ability in the penalty box.

Fergie added: Hes not going to change from what he is. He is as good a player as I have ever dealt with in the penalty box in terms of movement, space making and decision making. He is brilliant with those qualities.

He might even improve on that next year. But where he does need to improve is the technical bit. He is doing that all the time, though.

When I watched him play for Mexico in the Gold Cup, the change in him was fantastic in terms of how he was linking play, spinning his defender.

One of the goals he scored, the centre-back went to check him, but Chicho stepped away from him, went round the back and he was in. Brilliant.

His decision making is brilliant in that, but Im sure he will go on to improve his intuition and make himself even better.