While Eastlands officials battle through the legal red tape enveloping controversial owner Thaksin Shinawatra, they will have to wrestle with the manager's desire to see another forward brought to the club before transfer deadline day.
Darius Vassell's knee ligament injury suffered against Milan on Saturday is expected to keep the former England man out of action for up to three months.
That leaves Hughes facing European and Premier League campaigns with just two largely untried teenagers, Danny Sturridge and Ched Evans, the not yet match fit Valeri Bojinov, Felipe Caicedo and the out of sorts Rolando Bianchi in his armoury.
Record signing Jo is not expected back from the Olympics until the end of the month and Zimbabwe international Benjani is still some weeks away from playing again after rupturing a thigh muscle.
It all adds up to headache for the new boss who lamented Vassell's lack of fortune after what had been a promising pre-season for the experienced 28-year-old.
"There is a concern over Darius who may have done some damage to his knee which is a real disappointment," reported Hughes.
Rehabilitation
"He has done exceptionally well in pre-season and will be assessed further during the week."
The Blues have made just two purchases this summer, Jo and Tal Ben Haim, and they may have to sell again before they can re-enter the market.
While Vassell begins his lengthy rehabilitation, there was better news of Saturday's other two `casualties' with both Bojinov and Micah Richards expected to face Danish side FC Midytjlland in the UEFA Cup second qualifying round.
The Blues cannot afford any further injuries especially as skipper Richard Dunne is also suspended for the opening two league matches against Villa and West Ham.
Hughes has cover for the influential Irishman in the shape of Israeli international Tal Ben Haim who was outstanding against Milan and has already impressed Hughes as a man who can have great influence on the pitch.
"Our aim was to integrate Tal as quickly as possible and that is what we have done," said the manager.
"I thought he was excellent against Milan and showed good movement, good anticipation of situations that he nipped in the bud and when we switched him to left-back he was looking to be aggressive and affect the game in a positive way.
"He showed off the quality that we know he has. He's ambitious and determined and we're delighted to have him here.
"He's got the versatility and flexibility to play in a number of positions. He showed that against Milan, and he's going to be a big asset for us.
"Added to that, he has settled in well and the great thing is that he is a talker who tries to organise things for us and that will be a bonus. You cannot have enough of that in the side."
City have slashed ticket prices for the first leg of the tie with FC Midytjlland on Thursday and will run a `kid for a quid' promotion.
Tickets for the tie (7.45pm) are now on sale for £15 but supporters with a Seasoncard or a Citycard can still get seats at a discounted rate.
Adult Seasoncard tickets cost £10 if bought by the close of business tomorrow which is also the cut-off point for Citycard members to buy at £12.
LIVE4CITY members can secure a seat for just £1 each if booked in advance.
Who should City start up front against Villa? Have your say.
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I wouldn't be suprised if we sign Roque Santa Cruz......then all the worries will drift away!
by the way - who ever got these quotes from hughes why didnt they ask him about the situation at the club- or is evertything more settled than reported.....
Not sure we're a very attractive destination for players at the moment, and not too many clubs are going to want to do business with us either!
Fire power, is he the son of Paul, good signing if we can get him.
What good is another striker, our 8th or 9th, if we only have one player able to give them any service, i.e. Petrov. More important is a right winger, what happens when Jo and Benjani are available again if we sign another striker? CTID
and where exactly are we getting the money from ?
has dr thaksin been down to that pier that burnt down looking for cash from the slots ?
i am sure we can buy Santa Cruz for a sugar dummy and a kiss me quick hat...
by the way - who ever got these quotes from hughes why didnt they ask him about the situation at the club- or is evertything more settled than reported.....
jerseyblue, jersey
12/08/2008 at 09:42
I thought the very same thing, who do you reckon the sun's 'city source' was, probably just some punter hanging around the ground at the time! There really is some stirring going on at the moment, the press (especially the red top tabloids) are loving this, I just hope we as a side can brush it aside an get on with it
If we are going to buy a guaranteed twenty Premier goals a season player then fine.If on the other hand we get someone who may make double figures then we might as well stick we what we have and get a really top class goalscorer in the future.I think all the strikers we currently have can do a good job for us and some of them will get more chances now that Vassell is out of the reckoning.Come on you blues!!!!
Danny S and Super Ched look like they could surprise a few defences this season, a quality pair of 'untried teenagers' imo.
What about Shola Ameobie like? :-)
On a more serious note Vass will be a big miss. Even all you Vass slaters must admit he's looked good Pre Season. Great squad player!
CTID
This will be a bit of test for Mark Hughes as he's battled to keep Charlie and Sibierski (Oops sorry, Ireland)at the club.
The article alludes to him having to sell to buy, so he's not going to want to do a u-turn on these decisions.
I've posted previously on my doubts about MJ's desire to stay at the club long term and this could very well come home to roost. To clarify (before I get jumped on by some of you out there!) - I do NOT want to see MJ sold. However, I can well see him being sold 'reluctantly' to fund a buy in an area of the pitch where Hughes feels we are lacking i.e. up front.
Really hope I'm proved wrong on this one, though...
I for one cant wait for the season to start. After following the blues for thirty odd years and seeing us win zip, I am usually a bit of a pessimist. But whilst the papers loving stirring up the mud on our beloved City as it amuses them and more importantly sells newspapers, I feel we could have a really good season ahead of us. Why? Well, we have a top class no nonesense manager determined to prove himself at a bigger club. A man in Mark Hughes who is determined to prove that he is the best young manager in the PL. Which he probably is! A strict work ethic training team handpicked by Hughes. An academy which has just won the youth cup and is the envy of all the other clubs. Valeri Bojiiov who was the youngest seria A player at 15 years old and is still now only 21years old and is now match finally match fit. Bojiiov match fit is the same as a 15 million pound new signing. A new brazilian centre forward record signing who is supposed to be the next big thing in South America and has a strike rate already of less than 1 goal in every two games in Europe Add to that youngsters developing like Johnson,Onohua,Fernandes,Corluka,Hart,Sturridge,Weiss,Etuhu. Oh and we just beat AC Milan without our star centre forward. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME - WHY IS IT ALL DOOM AND GLOOM OUT THERE. One reason. The press overlooks all of the above and instead concentrates on any bit of negativity associated with the club. Trust me it will be a successful season. Lets follow our beloved city ignore the guttersnipers whoever they are and get behind Mark Hughes 100%. Once we start putting to gether a winning streak then peraphs all the guttersnipers can leave us alone and judge us what we are. A great club with loyal fans run by a very good manager with exciting young players.
How can a story like this come out when we're supposed to be in the financial plop. I suppose if we sign Santa it will push other strikers further down the pecking order and therefore devalue them. If he flops then we push ourselves over the edge. How stupid are football clubs that spend tens of millions trying to win an extra couple of million in PL prize money. For me finishing 14th is the same as finishing 8th so how about not being quite so dumb. Why didn't someone close the window before sense flew out of it. Talk sport just reported MH is set to quit. Either we have a schitzo in charge or journalism in this country has hit an all time low in it's accuracy and integrity.
How about good service from midfield and defence
What about the glaringly obvious hole in midfield, that sven and so far Hughes has so far not sorted out??
Sorry ,i must be missing something where is the money to buy this fire power from, we havnt a pot to p in,
WHAT THE ???? I am so sick of all the contradictory reports coming from everywhere, and here are the MUEN with several different stories ?? is Mark Hughes deluded to think he is in the position to actually buy a striker when Thaksin needs every penny for himself or to pay wages and outstanding transfer balances, or are the press deluded and making any old stories up because they dont know the truth ???
CTID
If this is true, what about Wagner Love. Strongly linked with Everton at the mo but on a season long loan initially before we decide to buy. Was Jo's partner at CSK. Perhaps we could get him on loan!
if City make any new signings it will go a long way to disproving the rumours throughout the media / www that City are in melt down.
It would be as good as a statement from the club.
I think you have to take most of the press as speculation / scare mongerring. I don't believe any one in the media really knows how much money Thaksin has and what the real outcome of the situation will be.
If we havn't really spent much as its all on the drip then the additional Sky revenue should be enough to keep us going, it is for most other clubs who don't even have our total incoming revenue.
Stick with it Hughsey, you have the squad to have a good season.
I think someone for the right wing would be priceless to the team. It will have an effect from the strikers down to the keeper. A balanced team is priority. Although Elano did well there against AC, I don't think we are getting the best out of him in that position. Giving the opposition something to worry about on the right would create more space in the centre of midfield and take pressure of Petrov which will surely help him up his game even higher. Ever remember SWP's last season with us? Everything was played down the right. Stop SWP and you stop City. Now its getting that way with Petrov. I also believe this will take burden off the holding midfielder as teams can afford to over crowd us in the centre of the park as they don't have much to worry about down the right.
Dont be a bum, ignore the Scum.
There is an amazing lot of nonsense flying around. Ok the chairman has a few problems at the moment to put it mildly, but that doesn't necessarily have to mean Manchester City will be adversely affected. Hughes will sort out the footballing side and i think we will do well under him.
Business as usual.
Dr T is used to a coup, isn't it time we staged one and got our club back??
The whole situation has been blown out of all proportion if ask me. Frank has had problems in Thailand with his money tied up and facing prosecution even since before he bought city. What's changed? Not much.
The thing that has made everything look a hundred times worse than it is, is the whole Corluka sale fiasco. We could do with some explanation of what that was all about. But based on that, the media have jumped on anything. Channel 5 were confidently (and emphatically) announcing on Saturday that the whole team was up for sale simply because Petrov was not on the bench. Turns out he had a slight injury and nothing more.
Perhaps City's libel lawyers should have a word with some of these idiotic journalists. Maybe a lawsuit or two might encourage some of them to start reporting facts rather than ridiculous speculation and rumour and claiming these as facts.
They twist and turn on every word. Look at the latest from Scudmore. They hound the guy for some comment and naturally he says "of course we'd have to look at the situation and take advice" (or words to that effect). What else can he say? Then this is reported as "City to face FA probe". What a load of horsecrap.
I really can't see Sante Cruz coming. First of all Hughes must be absolute sure he's by far better than what we have already, secondly he wil have to be bought from another British team and that means he will cost too much on forehand and the money has to be paid within a year or so. I'd rather we loaned a foreward and I would not object to Cisse, no matter what some think of him, and if Marseille would actually loan him. As things are now I'm not too worried about our chances for having a good season, maybe not getting into the top 6, but surely more attractive play from a crop of talented youngsters to look foreward to.
Chippy-boy. Spot on assessment mate. Nuff said.
If money was available for new players we would have a right winger at least in by now. Its obvious to anyone that knows a small amount about football that City needed a right winger all last season,Hughes will already have known that having played us twice. We have basically the same squad of players that performed(or didn't) for the last 6 months of last season so disatrously,with a couple of youth team players promoted. Yes there are some talented players in the squad,and no they wern't performing to their best last season, but to expect MH to play more games with the same players and get better results is a huge ask. Without the additions we all know we are desperate for,and with Benjani and Vassell long term injuries,Jo away at the Olympics and Bojinov still playing catch-up for fitness,it is going to be a difficult start to the season.