Blackburn Rovers have rejected a £12million bid from Manchester City for Roque Santa Cruz and say he is not for sale."A bid came in last night and it was immediately rejected," said a statement on the Rovers website.
"Various Manchester City officials have been advised on a number of occasions that the player would not be for sale.
"We are very disappointed, therefore, that they have continued their interest."
Punters looking to use their £25 free bet will anxiously be awaiting further news, as ex-Ewood Park boss Hughes is desperate for an addition to his front line as City bid for a top six place this season.
Darius Vassell has been ruled out for ten weeks with a knee injury, and with record signing Jo Alves unavailable because of the Olympics and Benjani sidelined with a thigh problem, Hughes has a paucity of strikers at his disposal.
Under Sven Goran Eriksson, the Blues made an excellent start to the last campaign but a shortage of frontmen has hit their chances of a repeat this time around with games against Aston Villa (away), West Ham and Sunderland (away) in August.
Santa Cruz was one of the revelations of last season after Hughes signed him for Rovers from Bayern Munich for £3.8million a year ago.
The Paraguayan scored 23 goals in his first season in England and looked like the best target man around in the Premiership, but Blackburn do not have to sell.
Hughes' former club have already lost David Bentley and Brad Friedel and will reject any approaches for their star striker - even if it means turning down an £8million profit.
