José Mourinho’s arrival at Chelsea in the summer of 2004 may have had a diluting effect on Sir Alex Ferguson’s rivalry with Arsène Wenger, but - with the Portuguese no longer at Stamford Bridge – the Manchester United manager suggested yesterday that his long-time adversary at Arsenal represents the greatest threat to his team’s chances of retaining their Barclays Premier League title.

Ferguson claimed that people should not “dismiss” Chelsea simply because of the departure of Mourinho – “how could you with the players they have got?” he said – but there was no denying who the United manager believes will pose the biggest challenge this season.

Arsenal are top of the Premier League, two points ahead of United, despite having played a game fewer – but while many expected Wenger’s team to struggle this season, especially after Thierry Henry’s departure for Barcelona in the summer, Ferguson had no such reservations.

“They have started the season well – their form has been very good,” he said. “They have produced some very good performances and have laid down the marker. That’s good. It’s going to make it an interesting league.

“A club like Arsenal make their own expectations, irrespective of what other people’s expectations are. Big clubs have to be like that.”

Arsenal have scored 15 goals in six league matches compared with United’s six in seven games, but while Ferguson described his team’s lack of goals almost as a “condemnation of the history of the club”, given their reputation for free-scoring, the manager insisted that he is happy with the form of his players.

Ferguson could not say the same about the club’s youngsters, who slumped to a 2-0 defeat by Coventry City in the third round of the Carling Cup at Old Trafford on Wednesday, and just as surely as the manager will reinstate his senior players for the league match away to Birmingham City this evening, many of those supposed starlets will be sent out on loan during the January transfer window.

Ryan Giggs, the winger whose contract expires next summer, is close to signing a new deal that will keep him at the club until the end of next season. Wes Brown, the defender, is also expected to sign a new contract in the coming weeks.