Manchester United's chief executive, David Gill, has insisted that his club can compete with Manchester City in the transfer market.

"We can compete, we can compete for top players," Gill told ArabianBusiness.com. "People say we don't, but we have bought well, and our goal at Manchester United is to make sure we develop our own players and also buy good players."

Gill, though, also pointed out that United's plan is to grow their own stars rather than buy them fully formed. "Over time, if you follow Manchester United, you will know we have rarely bought the world star," he said. "We have made them world stars by playing for Manchester United, and that will continue."

The chief executive said he was "comfortable" with the club's business model under the Glazers. "In terms of our business model, we have got debt that we didn't have before," he said. "The debt levels we have got are roughly £500m in bonds, the interest costs on that are roughly £45m, and our EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization] is in the order of £100m, and growing. So we can easily service our debt. So we are comfortable with our business strategy and business model going forward."