I still want Terry, says relentless Hughes

Rich Jones
Monday 20 July 2009 00:00 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

The Premier League yesterday confirmed they had received no official complaint from Chelsea over Manchester City's pursuit of John Terry, as Mark Hughes continued his public courtship of the England captain.

With Emmanuel Adebayor signing for £25m on Saturday, to join a summer influx of talent to Eastlands, City manager Hughes must now focus on his defence. Terry, the Chelsea captain, has been identified as his number one target and an offer of around £30m was recently turned down.

"It's well documented that we put in a bid and that was rejected," said Hughes. "He's a player I know, I played alongside him at Chelsea and I admire him as a person and captain from afar. He's obviously the type and calibre of player we need to compete at the top level." Hughes' latest public outpouring of admiration for Terry is unlikely to go down well at Stamford Bridge, with reports yesterday suggesting the Londoners were ready to lodge an official complaint with the Premier League for alleged "tapping up".

Hughes – who also confirmed his interest in the Everton centre-back Joleon Lescott – claimed City would back off if Chelsea continue to rebuff their approaches. "If we come to a point where we feel there's no chance of a transfer progressing then we move away from that," he said. "But I don't think we're at that point as yet."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in