No pressure on Man City boss Hughes to splash out on stars in January

Mark Hughes has been assured by Manchester City’s new owners that they will not put him under pressure to fill his squad with Galacticos when the transfer window opens in January.

With the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) expected to complete their £200million takeover of City towards the end of next week, manager Hughes will have millions at his disposal in the transfer market as he looks to transform the club into Champions League contenders.

But it is understood Hughes has been assured by a representative of the Arab investors that he will be allowed to build his squad the way he wants and that they will not force him to buy expensive star names that he doesn’t want.

ADUG, bankrolled by the Abu Dhabi royal family, have already sent a man to talk to respected youth director Jim Cassell, which has been seen as a positive sign by Hughes and an indication the Arabic group want to do things the right way.

With the club’s prospective new owners already investigating the possibility of buying up land around the City of Manchester Stadium, it is possible that the club’s training ground will be moved to a new purpose-built complex in East Manchester.

Indeed, Manchester City Council have already been made aware of the plans to develop the Eastlands site.

Hughes, in turn, has told ADUG — whose members will not be at Saturday's Barclays Premier League game against Chelsea — that he has to be the man making the decisions on transfers.

On Thursday night, he declared himself happy with the new owners’ response. Hughes said: ‘Football matters are my department. Those are decisions that I make. That’s what I have been told and that is what I expect.

‘I have been assured that football matters are my remit and that is the way that it should be.

‘From the discussions I have had with them, they would appear to regard myself and my staff as an asset. I agree with them — but then I suppose I would!’

Hughes will finally welcome £32m signing Robinho to the club’s training ground on Friday after ADUG paid £150,000 to fly the Brazil forward back from international duty on a private jet.

Jet-setter: Robinho will return to Manchester on a private plane after taking part in Brazil's shock 0-0 draw at home to Bolivia on Wednesday night

The former Real Madrid player was joined on the aircraft by fellow Brazilians Elano, Jo and Glauber Berti, as well as Argentina defender Pablo Zabaleta.

Robinho seems likely to start his City career on the substitutes’ bench but Hughes will make his decision later on Friday after he has assessed the player’s physical condition following his long-distance travels.

Hughes said: ‘If you buy international players then you have to accept that they will go away from time to time to play international football.

‘It’s not easy when they are travelling half the length of the world but we have done what we can to make it as easy as possible for them to get back.

‘Robinho will be involved at some stage. One of the first things he told me when I met him in London last week was how much he was looking forward to playing in this game against Chelsea.

‘Robinho is one of those players that when he gets the ball people sense something is going to happen.

‘I am confident that we will experience that at first hand on Saturday.’