Hughes confident of City's pull

Mark Hughes is confident of bringing more world class players to Manchester City despite not having the lure of the Champions League.

The City boss has already smashed the British transfer record to take Brazilian star Robinho to Eastlands on the final day of the summer transfer window last month and will have even more money to spend in January thanks to the club's new owners, the Abu Dhabi United Group.

Hughes knows it will be difficult to try and entice some players to City because they are not in Europe's premier club competition. However he feels the cash on offer, the prospect of playing in the Uefa Cup and the challenge to get City into the Champions League is a good enough carrot.

He told the Sunday Mirror: "We haven't got the lure of Champions League football to help us when we are negotiating for players, but there are other benefits for coming to Manchester City.

"We feel we can offer big-name players something that little bit different - although obviously the aim is that we eventually have a team playing in the Champions League.

"Whether that is money or just a different challenge I don't know.

"But we are now in a position where Manchester City are a very attractive proposition to top players, even if we're not yet in the Champions League.

"The arrival of Robinho was a signal of intent that there is now another major player in town. I am sure that there will be top players out there who are at different stages of their career who will now look at Manchester City as a viable option."