Jose Mourinho has warned that he will struggle to catch Pep Guardiola's Manchester City if his rival spends heavily on new signings again this summer.
Manchester United trail City by a massive 16 points in the Premier League, while Guardiola has already lifted the Carabao Cup and guided his team into the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
United, on the other hand, went out of Europe to Sevilla in midweek and are relying on the FA Cup for silverware ahead of Saturday's quarter-final clash with Brighton at Old Trafford.
'In the last seven years Manchester City were champions twice — and if you want to say three times because they will be in a few more weeks — and they were second twice. That's heritage.
'Do you know what is also heritage? It's that (Nicolas) Otamendi, Kevin De Bruyne, Fernandinho, (David) Silva, (Raheem) Sterling, (Sergio) Aguero, they are investments from the past. Not from the last two years.'
Asked if he is concerned that he may never catch City, Mourinho replied: 'I'm not saying that.'