Sam Allardyce is emerging as the bookies favourite to fill the vacant Sunderland manager role, but what do you think? See all the BestPrice betting here.

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has said that he is looking to bring in at least five new faces in January, as he seeks to strengthen his squad with the backing of club owners Abu Dhabi United.

The club have been linked with a host of leading players ever since they smashed the British transfer record to sign Robinho from Real Madrid on September 1.

Hughes told the Manchester Evening News: “We are looking for targets to balance the team.

“There are a lot of players out there who people are getting very excited about – some huge stars – but maybe not in the positions we are looking to strengthen.

“January is a very difficult window to negotiate for top players as they are inevitably involved with Champions League teams striving to win titles.

“To extract players from top clubs is very difficult as, quite simply, those clubs don’t want to deal with you.

“The reality is that we have four or five positions to improve and we are working on it. There is a lot of speculation and the problem is that many people, agents, are trying to take advantage of it.”

Hughes insists the club’s owners will not interfere in his transfer plans.

He added: “This club is going to change hugely, we want to be part of the best clubs in the world but the new owners do not tell us who should come or not.

“They just want us to communicate the names of the players we need and they give us the means to sign them.

“People are going to hear a lot of Manchester City in the next months and years. But, first things first, we have to have a balance and that winning mentality.”

Sam Allardyce is emerging as the bookies favourite to fill the vacant Sunderland manager role, but what do you think? See all the BestPrice betting here.

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