Manchester City boss Mark Hughes has played down talk of major signings being made in the January market.

Hughes said: "The difficulty will be getting clubs to release those players.

"Maybe it will be more difficult than people realise in January. We'll pursue targets we can realistically get.

"There are exceptionally talented players around that we would bring to the club if they were made available.

"We obviously are talking about players whose clubs are involved in the Champions League. Clubs may not be very receptive to losing those players midway through a Champions League season."

Welshman Hughes added that he was not fazed by the added pressure the club's increased wealth and desire for silverware would bring.

"Pressure is always there," he said. "I have been working with pressure as a player and manager for 25 years. If you can't work with it you are in the wrong business.

"The expectation levels have increased and people will have to raise their game. That is fantastic.

"Now we have a really focused group that I am sure will kick on even further.

"The goal has always been to try and compete with the top teams. Maybe the timescale is a bit different but the goals have not changed. We want to compete and try to win trophies if we can."