In terms of spending, the fortunes of the two Manchester club's - United and City - have drastically changed in the last 24 months, but money does not always translate into on-the-field success.
After investing a massive £325 million ($508m) in just two short years, City will need to put their performances where there money has been, and start winning silverware or they will always remain the second-class team in Greater Manchester.
United ruined City's best chance of that elusive trophy by beating them in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup - which the Red Devils went on to defend their title.
Sir Alex Ferguson has always been known as a manager who was never afraid to spend money on a player - Andy Cole (1995, Newcastle United, £7m), Juan Sebastian Veron (2002, Lazio £28) and Rio Ferdinand (2002, Leeds United, £29m) - but even he knows that the transfer market has become inflated by his big spending neighbors.
Instead of purchasing "established" players, the United boss has decided to spend on raw, unproven talent, which as he has shown in the past, he can convert them into a first-rate player.
Influx
Since The Abu Dhabi United Group takeover in August of 2008, Ferguson has only spent more than £15 million on a player twice - Antonio Valencia (£16m) and Dimitar Berbatov (£30m) - and the only reason why the fee for the Bulgarian was so high is that City offered more money to Tottenham Hotspur, but he only wanted to play for United.
Already this summer the City manager, Roberto Mancini, has purchased SIX top-notch players for a whopping £130 million - with the signings of Jerome Boateng (Hamburg SV), Aleksandar Kolarov (Lazio), David Silva (Valencia), Yaya Touré (Barcelona), Mario Balotelli (Inter Milan) and is on the verge of signing James Milner (Aston Villa) as well.
These six players will definitely make City a force to be reckoned with in the Barclays Premier League, but following their impotent, lack luster display in the nil-nil draw against Tottenham this past weekend, the last two mentioned - Balotelli and Milner - will be welcomed additions to the squad for Mancini.
Meanwhile, in comparison, Sir Alex has only spent a meagerly £25 million on three young, inexperienced players - Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez (C.D. Chivas), Chris Smalling (Fulham) and Tiago 'Bebé' Manuel Dias Correia (Vitória de Guimarães).
Problem
Mancini is faced with a real dilemma by having way too many players to be compliance with the new 25-man roster established by the Premier League this season.
The problem is that he cannot just off-load the fringe players that were brought in by the previous manager, Mark Hughes, because of the ridiculous wages that they are on, so he is forced to loan them out.
Players like Craig Bellamy, Shay Given and Roque Santa Cruz were all tempted to the City of Manchester Stadium, because of money, and now that they are seen as surplus to the Italian, he cannot break the contracts, so he must loan them or play them in the reserves.
These players have all played in the top tiers of European football for the majority of their careers, and now that they are on the twilight of their playing days, they will want to play regular first-team football.
However, Mancini can ill-afford to ship them off to a top-half-of-the-table rival, because they could come back to haunt them if they beat City for a place in one of the European competitions next season.
Bellamy has agreed a loan deal with Cardiff City in npower Championship, but that is only, because they are his boyhood team, and the club agreed to pay half of his wages.
So far money has not bought City any success as they have not won a trophy - in the top tier of English football - since 1976 when they won the League Cup, however, The Citizens have not taste league success since 1967/68 - the same year United won their first of three European Cups.
Until they knock Manchester United off their perch - by not only finish above them in the Barclays Premier League, but win it - City will always play second fiddle to the most successful English team in recent memory.
Contributed by David Hammons / The United Religion
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