Hughes focused on job in hand

MARK HUGHES is determined to talk about players that have already been signed by Manchester City, rather than John Terry.

The England captain has been on the radar of the Eastlands manager all summer, but his employers Chelsea have insisted he is going nowhere and have rejected several offers from free-spending City.

Speaking on the club’s pre-season tour of South Africa, Hughes said: “We keep on dismissing certain individuals and we keep on giving the same response.

“There is no value from our point of view to keep on saying the same things. I would imagine from your view that you are pretty fed up with me saying the same thing over and over again.

“I much rather talk about the players we have signed. That’s where my focus will lie for the next few days.

“The situation with other players, whether or not they are coming to the club, may well be resolved in the completion of the transfer window.”

It remains unlikely that Terry will be swapping Stamford Bridge for the City of Manchester Stadium, with reports from the United States, where Chelsea are currently touring, suggesting that he is staying put.

City have already made major inroads in the transfer market this summer, bringing in Roque Santa Cruz, Gareth Barry, Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Tevez.

Apart from Barry, the other three have yet to feature in the first two games in Polokwane and Durban, and the situation will remain the same for Tevez – the Argentinian has been left out of the squad to play Kaizer Chiefs in today’s Vodacom Challenge final due to a heel injury.

And the absence of the former Manchester United striker, who joined the club for £25million (€29m), is a major disappointment for his coach.

He said: “It is a shame for the boy, for us and for the South African public but unfortunately these things happen.”

Meanwhile Richard Dunne believes breaking into the top four is a realistic target for City this season.

“The amount of money the club is spending at the moment, it is reasonable that people expect us to be challenging the top four,’’ he said.

“That is what we have to do this season, make sure it is a challenge and have a go at them. As things stand we are still building a squad and hopefully when the season starts we will have a squad that is strong enough.’’