“we have probably done better than we thought”

By: j | February 4th, 2009

Reviewing the transfer window, Mark Hughes sounded a note of success:

“Most of our business had been done by the day before, so there were a few phone calls in regard to our players which we had to look at, but any business that we were going to do had already been done.

“The situation was that Blackburn were not prepared to sell their player. Their stance was that they did not have anybody to come in, they had apparently been trying to replace him but could not so there was no deal to be done.

“If we had offered more money to a certain level it would have been done, which would have negated their argument to a certain extent, but we were not going to do that. We said all along that we had values for players, and we were not going above them.

“They retained their player, and they were well within their rights to do that. We wanted to bring a good player to Manchester City, our motivation in trying to do the deal was that we thought he could help us. But it has not happened, so we move on.

“We have still spent a significant amount of money. What we were able to do was address a number of the key areas that we felt needed to be strengthened. You always have targets you are hopeful of getting in a transfer window, but you are always realistic about the likelihood of bringing each and every one of them in.

“That’s been borne out, but we have probably done better than we thought when the window opened.”

Overall the transfer window was a very sound move for City and as much club wanted Roque Santa Cruz, it was smart not to bid his price up. While few, if any want to discuss, the Football world is staring at some major changes financially and a secure balance sheet will create a multitude of opportunities over the next two years. Stay calm, don’t press for deals and be ready to strike as opportunities present themselves. While Blackburn’s situation is different as they are in a relegation fight and the sale of their top striker isn’t a logical decision on the pitch, within a year many clubs will be very receptive to £20m offers.