"I can't be worried," the United manager said Friday at UEFA headquarters. "We have a good set up ourselves. We have been working for years to build the team we have got."
City is in the process of being bought by an Adu Dhabi investment group in a deal believed to be worth up to 200 million pounds (US$360 million; €247 million).
The potential challenge to United's supremacy in the Premier League is similar to the situation five years ago when Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea.
Abramovich has since spent more than US$1 billion on players and saw his team win two championships before Ferguson reclaimed his place at the top, leading United to the past two league titles and the Champions League title.
"There's always challenges in football," Ferguson said. "Some years ago it was Chelsea, some years ago it was Arsenal. Wherever the challenges come you just have to accept it. It doesn't change anything."
Manchester City stated its ambitious intentions Monday by buying Robinho from Real Madrid for a British record of 32.5 million pounds (US$58.5 million; €40 million).
The team also made a bid to hijack United's deal for its No. 1 transfer target, Dimitar Berbatov of Tottenham. The Bulgaria striker moved to United for a fee of 30.75 million pounds (US$55.1 million; €37.7 million).
City officials have since talked of trying to sign United winger Cristiano Ronaldo for a world record fee.
"They can talk," Ferguson smiled.
Ryan Giggs, the most decorated player in United's history, said City's newfound wealth won't buy stability.
"City have the richest owner in the world but I still see United as the biggest club in the world," Giggs told the club's Web site. "United have a status and history that it has taken years to build up. It stretches back to the Busby Babes, to players like Sir Bobby Charlton and George Best.
"It will be very interesting to see what happens at City, but what we have at United is very special."
Ferguson spoke in Switzerland after attending a two-day gathering of coaches of Europe's elite clubs to discuss issues such as tactical changes and leadership in the modern game.
He was asked if, as a young coach, he would have wanted the responsibility now heaped on the shoulders of City's 44-year-old manager Mark Hughes, who was an Old Trafford legend playing for Ferguson.
"For a young manager it must be difficult," the 66-year-old Ferguson said. "You can't judge it from when I started, it is a completely different world now. I am at the tail-end of my career. I've been through all these change so it doesn't faze me."
Also attending the UEFA-organized seminar were Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and new Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho, who led Chelsea to back-to-back English titles before United won its last two.
"I enjoyed the competition against Jose Mourinho and we always enjoyed a glass of wine after the game," Ferguson said. "He was never a problem for me."
He said Mourinho and Inter, the three-time Italian champion and a likely challenger in United's Champions League defense, was a good match.
"You have a man with good confidence and a good track record," Ferguson said. "He was won the UEFA Cup, he has won the European Cup, he has won two leagues in England. They couldn't do better than that."
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