SIDES hunting for bargains at City this summer are going to have to be patient.

Boss Mark Hughes has declared that he will not be rushed into trimming his squad any more than is necessary and that he will buy before he sells.

And that is not good news for a host of top Championship sides and Premier League rivals Stoke who are all looking to prise Wales international Ched Evans away from City.

Academy product Evans was in a similar position 12 months ago when, fresh from setting the Championship alight with 10 goals in 28 games on loan at Norwich City, the bustling hitman was the subject of no fewer than a dozen enquiries.

Then new boss Mark Hughes decided he wanted to take a longer look at the 20-year-old and resisted all loan enquiries.

Evans subsequently made his mark as a substitute in the early rounds of the UEFA Cup before leading a depleted attack in the opening league game of the season at Aston Villa in what was his top flight debut.

He finally got off the mark in terms of goals when he was one of half-a-dozen separate scorers in the six-goal rout of Portsmouth in September.

But despite success in a UEFA Cup penalty shoot-out against Midtjylland in Denmark, Evans failed to add to that total in the rest of the season and eventually made five starts and 19 appearances from the bench.

Towards the end of the season Ecuador international Felipe Caicedo, a £5m purchase by previous manager Sven- Goran Eriksson, was preferred up front along with Zimbabwe captain Benjani.

Window

With big money striking acquisitions top of the priority shopping list this transfer window, it appears that Evans' future chances at City will be few and far between and he may be one of three or four hit men allowed to leave once replacements have been found.

Stoke are believed to be leading the chase but Hull and promoted trio Wolves, Birmingham and Burnley might all be interested in the player along with Sheffield United and Reading who narrowly missed out on coming up this season.

City would be looking for at least £3m with a healthy sell-on clause attached for the player.

They are resigned to saying goodbye to Darius Vassell as the former England striker's four-year stay comes to an end after 110 starts and 22 goals.

Hughes may also listen to bids for former Portsmouth ace Benjani whose season has been badly interrupted by injury and the manager could well be waving goodbye to both Daniel Sturridge, who is out of contract, and Brazilian Jo though the Blues would have to be prepared to take a financial hit on the £19m signing who spent the last months of the season on loan at Everton who do not want to keep him permanently.

That would leave Hughes with Bulgarian international Valerie Bojinov, Craig Bellamy and the aforementioned Caicedo as his three strikers plus any others he brings to the club.

With Europe off the agenda for next season it may be that the manager operates with a smaller but higher quality squad next time around.

City used more than 30 different players in the first team in the campaign just gone.

"What we intend to do this summer is add real quality to the first team and some depth that will make the squad better as a whole. I certainly will not be letting players go until I am satisfied we have the right depth and the right quality," declared the manager.

"We are looking to bring in quality at the top end. It is difficult to put a number on how many players might come in during the summer because we don't know yet who exactly will be available and who we will be able to bring to the club but we are in the market for quality and I have every expectation that I will be brining good players to the club. We are looking to be positive in the market from the moment it opens."

Blues fans are expecting something of a mass clearout this summer with Michael Ball, Didi Hamann and cult hero Glauber Berti also out of contract and Tal Ben Haim, Kasper Schmeichel, Shaleum Logan, Kelvin Etuhu and Gelson Fernandes all likely to be targeted as they struggle to nail down a regular berth in the side.

Israeli international Ben Haim could be a target for former boss Sam Allardyce at Blackburn.

How would you shuffle the City squad? Have your say.