Hughes coy on Torres swoop

MANCHESTER CITY manager Mark Hughes may already be persona non grata on the Everton side of Stanley Park, but if the rumours viciously circling Liverpool yesterday prove to be true, he can now also consider himself a most unwelcome visitor to the other half of Merseyside as well.

That is because on a day that Hughes takes his faltering City side to Anfield for a match that will have enormous implications on the future of both Hughes and opposite number Rafa Benitez, it has been suggested that Hughes is preparing a ludicrously high bid for striker Fernando Torres in the January transfer window.

Everton’s fans despise City for the way they rode in on their white horse during the summer before leaving with a flattered Joleon Lescott in the saddle, and a bid to take Torres from the red side of the city is likely to be treated with equal hostility.