MARK Hughes is facing a pivotal week as he starts to shape City in his own image.

And by the end of it, the Blues boss will have a much better idea of where his new charges are heading.

Hughes arrived at City three weeks ago with contracts to sort out, transfers to complete, players to release and a European campaign to prepare for.

Many of those uncertainties will clear up within the next seven days as City return for pre-season training.

Hughes is expected to confirm within days the departures of Emile Mpenza, Paul Dickov and Sun Jihai, all of whom are out of contract - and all of whom have already admitted their playing days at City are over as they seek new clubs.

Georgios Samaras should not be too far behind if a proposed move to Celtic goes through, while Bernardo Corradi and Rolando Bianchi are also expected to go out on loan.

Hughes is unlikely to bring a raft of players in, despite being linked with half of Europe - and, at the last count, six members of his old Blackburn side - since joining City.

The signing of Jo from CSKA Moscow for £17m, which should be completed in just over a week's time, will blow a sizeable hole in Hughes' transfer budget.

A defensive midfielder is also a priority, with Ghana international Anthony Annan, currently with Norwegian club IK Start, and Portsmouth's Lassana Diarra high among the candidates.

Hughes is also hoping to get key players signed up on long-term deals as soon as possible. His chances of getting Richard Dunne to commit have been boosted by Harry Redknapp's admission that Portsmouth were losing their battle to tempt away City's captain.

Joe Hart is also set to sign a deal which would bring the keeper's wages into line with those of his team-mates.

In addition to all the ins, outs and stay-puts, Hughes will also find out on Tuesday the identity of City's UEFA Cup opponents.

The draw for the first qualifying round will fill the two biggest remaining holes in the Blues' busy July schedule.

Plans

Hughes has already shown that he has a big enough personality to tackle the City job by getting the club to change their pre-season plans.

The Blues pulled out of the Uhren Cup in Switzerland to allow Hughes to take his players to a training camp in southern Germany.

Those camps worked well in preparing Blackburn for the rigours of a Premier League campaign during Hughes' time at Ewood Park.

And the manager himself is certainly well prepared for an early start, having taken Rovers into the Intertoto Cup on July 22 last year.

Hughes' determination to hit the ground running bodes well for the Blues as they look to push on from last season's ninth-place league finish.

And for all the talk of new blood coming in, last season's key figures will also have plenty to prove to the new boss.

Benjani will aim to show Hughes that City's efforts in sorting out his on-off transfer from Portsmouth last January were justified.

Martin Petrov and Vedran Corluka will be out to build on impressive first seasons in England, with the Croatian defender returning after making an impact on Euro 2008.

Elano has the task of proving to Hughes that he can sustain his form for a whole season now that he has had a year to acclimatise to the demands of the Premier League.

Micah Richards will be out to show the boss just why he is one of the most highly-rated young defenders in the country, having seen last season peter out due to a knee injury.

And for his part, Hughes will be out to show that he can take on a club of City's size and potential, and bring back the glory days. Given his record in management so far, only a fool would back against him.