The Blues' boss didn't rule out or rule in a plunge into the top end of the transfer market for a new face to replace the sidelined Zimbabwe international skipper but is clearly concerned that he will be without two key strikers for the first month of the season.
Record signing Jo is already on his way to join up with the Brazilian Olympic soccer team that is hot favourite to win gold at the Beijing Games.
The £19m hitman will, in all likelihood, not be back until the start of September leaving a philosophical Hughes to ponder fresh combinations.
"Benjani was just taking a shot on goal during training and unfortunately damaged his thigh muscle quite high up and quite badly," he said.
"The medical staff here feel it will be well into the league season before he is back. He will have to wait for the muscle to heal and then after that it is a case of waiting for the strength to come back and that needs a lot of work.
"It is a big disappointment for the lad after his end to last season when he got amongst the goals. He wanted to hit the ground running and it is a disappointment for me too because I was looking forward to seeing him play.
"These things happen and unfortunately in pre-season invariably a squad picks up injuries. You just hope that they are slight and easy to get over but this isn't, it is a little bit more than that.
"From a position where we were quite strong in terms of bodies - and had a lot of forward-thinking bodies - we might over the next few weeks now be shorter than we thought we were going to be. We will have to have a look at that and make sure the balance of the squad is right."
Darius Vassell, Ched Evans, Danny Sturridge and Felipe Caicedo are the men currently fit and available and without questions marks against their City futures. Valeri Bojinov is yet to hit full fitness after suffering a setback before the UEFA Cup qualifying clash against EB Streymur.
Italian pair Rolando Bianchi and Bernardo Corradi continue to train with the Blues but both could yet be subject to transfers back to Serie A that would help pay for a new arrival.
How should City deal with their striker puzzle? Have your say.
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Showing comments 1 to 25 and replies | View All
A Manc and blue (23/07/2008 at 10:58)
Thai Curry Pie (23/07/2008 at 11:03)
There is not enough proven quality up front and we need reinforcements.
RSC *and* Milito.
walkers, manchester (23/07/2008 at 11:06)
bluelight, Levenshulme (23/07/2008 at 11:08)
I'd rather see some emphasis put on bringing SWP back though. It just seems to make sense.
Viera would be a nice addition too.
james marshall (23/07/2008 at 11:17)
Bluereed (23/07/2008 at 11:21)
Before we panic i'd like to see Evens have a go against Hamburg& the other friendlies partnering either Bojinov or Bianchi and then decide on wether to buy another striker,thats just my opinion of course.
Jim, Furness Vale (23/07/2008 at 11:23)
Hopefully Bianchi and Corradi will have returned to Italy, Castillo will be gone by January at the latest. Caciedo is still trying to come to terms with the Premiership and is he any better than Evans or Sturridge anyway ? Bojinov is still struggling and maybe it would be better to try and move him on if we can ?
So we have Vassell, Evans and Sturridge fit for the start of the season. We are now paying for chopping and changing managers by having so many strikers on the books that aren't Premiership quality. I hope Bellamy (too injury prone) and Cisse (never good enough, although breaking his leg didn't help) aren't serious targets.
If Thaksin wants the stadium filled every week then we need two or three quality signings this summer.
Left back either Zhirkov or Shorey (maybe even Hunt)
Right wing (Zabaleta, Joaquin or SWP realistic targets !)
Strikers Huntelaar, Santa Cruz or Milito (clear out what we have and start again sign 2 of these 3)
Midfield Banega or maybe Alonso look the only players we have been linked with.
We still need an older experienced keeper and it looks like Ben Haim will be joining us, so we will have some competition for the centre back role. Hopefully Richards will play right back although he may even be used in midfield.
I'd also love us to sign Diego but that would mean part-exing him for Elano which would be a great deal for us if only Werder Bremen would go for this transfer, he'd guarantee success for City.
Here's hoping Hughes and Cook can achieve some of these targets before the season starts.
One things for sure, we will struggle to match last seasons start to the campaign and the press and some fans will probably be on City's back straight away !
j the el, mancunia (23/07/2008 at 11:24)
tommybates, Manchester (23/07/2008 at 11:26)
tommybates, Manchester (23/07/2008 at 11:28)
Nasty, East Stand, Level 1, (23/07/2008 at 11:37)
Anyone else get their season tickets today ?
CTID Bring it on !
tommybates, Manchester (23/07/2008 at 11:41)
Elano, Petrov, Castillo, Bianchi,Caicedo, Evans, Etuhu,Corradi, Sturridge,
should get the odd goal from that lot. At £30 mill+ in fee's and £15 mill in wages per annum we should.
BristolStevefromOldham, bristol (23/07/2008 at 11:50)
bad robot, www.mancityblues.com (23/07/2008 at 11:52)
Shaun, At My Desk (23/07/2008 at 11:54)
and the kids for the start of the season.Bojinov still not fully fit? I really don't like the sound of that.
Surely now(even if we buy another striker)Bianchi must stay,at least till January.
Castillo and Caciedo are probably subs at best.It's a crime of a Keeganesque scale
that we have wound up with so many unproven/rubbish strikers siphoning wages out of the club.
the noo Sam Harris, adelaide ,australia (23/07/2008 at 11:56)
Would still be targeting midfield and defence for reinforcments as these are areas that need addressing before we go buying more strikers. Give the blokes a chance to see what we`ve got, we can always pick someone up in the window if we need to. I like Cisse as a player but I don`t think he is sound and has to have lost a bit of pace.
david (23/07/2008 at 11:57)
given that M.Petrov often plays a lot of his international football on the right wing. how about us going back to Espanyol and getting Abert Riera for the left wing ? i thought he did a really good job when he was here last time.
any views ?
The Big Ecuadorian, Ecuador (23/07/2008 at 12:07)
Did i miss something. Strange comment Hughesy
ulf blomberg, varberg, sweden. (23/07/2008 at 12:16)
"both (bianchi and corradi) could yet be subject to transfers back to serie A and that would help pay for a new striker".
is bailey right? if he is then we dont have any money for transfers. we are supposed to take over from the scum...i know that shinawatra has said that we will not be spending big this summer, but if the trial goes wrong( from our point of view) what happens then? no money next summer also? i am confused now. cook and hughes are saying that big plans are ahead for city...for me it seems that we will always be 3 players short of being able to compete with the so called big clubs.
dennis d, coventry (23/07/2008 at 12:19)
blue62 (23/07/2008 at 12:20)
Goofy's Dietician (23/07/2008 at 12:22)
woolleyback blue, Heart of the City (23/07/2008 at 12:36)
We need a no nonsense midfielder as a priority, someone to put the fear of god in the opposition much more than we need another forward.
CTID
42andnotseenowtreally, Heaton Misery (23/07/2008 at 12:43)
Without Boj, Benjy and Jo has got to be Rolando & Ched methinks. Please not Vassy boy (even though he does sweat alot). That typical Vassy boy one-on-one last week sums it up for me. Even if he did beat the keeper (not on your Aunt Nelly) the incoming defender would have cleared it with time for a brew spare anyway.
Nick... As usual telling it as it is(Blackley born and bred) Caterham ,Surrey, caterham (23/07/2008 at 12:46)