London, Jan 1 : Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has said he fears that a combination of the team's failure to sign Robin van Persie at the start of the season, and the power that title rivals Manchester United wield, may cost them the Premier League title.

Mancini revealed that he thought he had persuaded Van Persie to sign for Manchester City four months before the Dutch striker was unveiled at Old Trafford in August after completing a 22 million pounds move from Arsenal.

Since then, Van Persie has scored 14 goals in 20 top-flight games for Sir Alex Ferguson's United side, who have established a seven-point lead over the champions, the Telegraph reports.

Those goals, including last-minute winners against Southampton and City themselves, have been worth a total of 19 points for United, and Mancini believes that their team could pay for not being able to sign the 29 year-old.

According to the report, Van Persie said he had listened to "the little boy inside him" when deciding to join United on a four-year contract worth 250,000 pounds per week. (ANI)