Manchester City boss Mark Hughes has not given up hope of signing Everton defender Joleon Lescott after clarifying comments that suggested he was ready to walk away from a deal.
Lescott has been a target for City in recent weeks, with Everton turning down offers of £15million and £18million from their Premier League rivals.
The centre-half recently handed in a transfer request, which was also turned down, but has since been dropped from the Toffees squad by David Moyes.
Hughes admits there has been no progress on any deal for the 27-year-old this week, with City having been in Spain to play Barcelona in a friendly.
“I think we have discussed this at length for probably the past three weeks and it’s just going over old ground,” said Hughes on Sky Sports News.
“I’ve said time and time again that we’ve made bids for Joleon Lescott and they’ve been rejected by Everton, who are very much within their rights to do that.
“I respect that decision, that’s the top and bottom of that.
“There hasn’t been any update since we came back from Barcelona, so that’s where we are. There hasn’t been any opportunity to progress it because people have been busy.”
When pressed on whether he would turn his attention to alternative targets, Hughes confirmed that he may have to look elsewhere.
He added: “I’ve said time and time again it comes to a point where sometimes you think it’s not going to happen and you walk away from situations, and that’s what we’ve done.”
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