Peter Kenyon says Chelsea are on their way to overtaking
Manchester United as the world's biggest football club, ahead of
their crunch game on Sunday.
Blues' chief executive Kenyon also said they will have to quit
Stamford Bridge.
"By 2014 we want to be internationally recognised as the number one
club," he said. "But I think it's pretty clear we can't get to
where we want to here."
But United winger Cristiano Ronaldo hit back, saying Chelsea would
fall apart if boss Jose Mourinho left the club.
He said: "Mourinho is a great coach and he is Portuguese, so I
can't speak badly of him.
"I would like to see what would happen if he were to leave Chelsea.
Perhaps they would stop getting good results."
United go into Sunday's Old Trafford showdown three points clear of
champions Chelsea and Ronaldo believes that while United have
improved from last season, the Blues have not moved forward.
"Chelsea are about the same as last year," added Ronaldo. "Andriy
Shevchenko and Michael Ballack haven't changed them in terms of
their superiority to everybody else.
"They have to work harder to win games and they only just do enough
to win.
"The rivalry between us and Chelsea exists, but there isn't the
same passion as the Manchester derby games or matches against
Arsenal or Liverpool."
Kenyon, meanwhile, does not think Sunday's eagerly-anticipated
contest will have any bearing on the outcome of this season's
Premiership title.
"Sunday is not the deciding game, as much as we try to build it
up," added Kenyon. "I think we still have a long way to go in the
season.
"I think the team is the best team we've had in the three years
I've been here.
"In depth, I think the squad is tremendous, and I don't actually
think we've seen the best of Chelsea at this stage in the
season."
United's Dutch goalkeeer Edwin van der Sar, however, reckons it is
the biggest game of the season.
"It doesn't get much bigger than this," said Van der Sar.
"When we played them at home last season we were 10 points behind,
now we are three ahead, so it goes without saying we are in a
better position.
"I am sure everybody will put what happened against Celtic on
Tuesday to the back of their minds and be ready to try and get the
result we want against Chelsea."
