Hughes named Manchester City manager

[TheGift]

LONDON, June 4 (Reuters) - Mark Hughes was confirmed as Manchester City’s new manager on Wednesday after quitting Premier League rivals Blackburn Rovers.

City’s Web site (Manchester City FC - Homepage) said the 44-year-old Hughes, who signed a three-year deal, had agreed to join after meeting the club’s new executive chairman Garry Cook on Tuesday.

Hughes, who played for Manchester United, Barcelona and Chelsea as well as winning 72 caps for Wales, replaces Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson who left by mutual consent on Monday after just one season in charge.

Eriksson was named coach of Mexico on Tuesday.

City were given permission to speak to Hughes after they agreed a compensation package with Rovers where Hughes had been at the helm for four years.

“I am delighted to welcome Mark on board. In our view he is the brightest young manager in the game and he was our number one target for the manager’s job,” Cook said in a statement.

“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.”

Cook said Hughes would be given full financial backing in the transfer market by the club’s Thai owner Thaksin Shinawatra.

“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.”

Hughes, who also coached the Wales national team, has emerged as one of the most astute British managers in the Premier League, turning Rovers from relegation strugglers to regular challengers for Europe.

They finished in the top 10 for the last three seasons although this year’s seventh place meant they narrowly missed a UEFA Cup spot. City ended ninth under Eriksson but qualified for the UEFA Cup through the Fair Play rankings.

Rovers said the search for Hughes’s successor would begin immediately.

“We wish him well, we would have liked him to stay on but he made it clear he wanted a fresh challenge,” Rovers chairman John Williams said on the club’s Web site

Hughes named Manchester City manager - World Soccer - Yahoo! Sports