Man City confirm Mark Hughes as manager
4th June, 2008
Mark Hughes has today been confirmed as Manchester City’s new manager, signing a three-year contract with the club. He replaces Sven-Goran Eriksson, who’s disappointing second-half of the season saw him dismissed in May by the new owner Thaksin Shinawatra.
Hughes had held talks with the City board in London on Tuesday, and after a compensation package was agreed with former club Blackburn Rovers, the move was completed today after a second round of talks.
Reports had suggested that Hughes had been on Chelsea’s shortlist of managers to replace Avram Grant, and that the London club may have tried to poach him before City reached a deal.
Gary Cook, City’s new executive chairman, said of the appointment: "In our view Mark is the brightest young manager in the game and he was our number one target for the manager's job. He made it clear to us from the moment we met that he shared our vision and ambition to make Manchester City one of the top sides in the country.”
"The Club intends to invest in new players as well as securing the long term services of key members of the current first team squad. "Mark has already identified some of the players and backroom staff that he wants to see here at City, and we will begin the process of recruiting them immediately."
Yesterday Hughes, a former Chelsea player, was the favourite to take the vacant manager role at Chelsea. Media reports continue to dictate the odds of the next Chelsea manager, with a report suggesting Spaletti is a key target seeing him move to 11/4 favourite, whilst long-term possibility Rijkaard is still up there at 3-1. Find the best odds on the Chelsea manager market using out odds comparison service.
By Chris M
