"I don't know the finer details of the negotiations, but the way the Ronaldinho deal was constructed was a little bit different by all accounts to an ordinary deal, so my budget would not have been affected as much as people think."

Hughes remains determined to improve his City squad before the start of the season and has identified several potential signings.

But he stressed he is keen to keep his targets under wraps to ensure City are not gazumped by another club.

He added: "There is plenty of speculation about which players we may or may not go for.

"Obviously, I am being linked with players that I know and possibly have worked with before and then there are others that agents are trying to move on and place.

"There is a lot of that going on at the moment. It is not my way to divulge who were are going after.

"I will keep them under wraps in case someone jumps in at the last moment, but there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes."