Stoke City are set to offload Giannelli Imbula and look to dip into the transfer market for another overseas midfielder.

City's £18m swoop for Imbula has proved to be a huge disaster but nonetheless, Hughes has admitted that he is looking to take a dip in the transfer market to sign another foreign midfield player.

"You hope to get guys in, but it's never a given," said Hughes. "We looked at the situation in terms of the make-up of the squad in the summer and we knew there were certain areas of the team we would try to address and improve.

"We weren't able to do it, or to get the right players that would have improved it to the extent that we wanted, and that can happen. It might happen again in this window. You can't guarantee things.

"I think sometimes supporters see the make-up of the squad and say: 'Can't the manager see it? We can see it. Why doesn't he do something about it?'

"It's very difficult to do it. Clearly, I know exactly the strengths and weaknesses of the squad I've got. Being able to bring through the right quality of players to improve that is sometimes very difficult.

"We're not Manchester City. We can't just go into the market and address clear issues in the squad. We have to try to prioritise. Sometimes one area needs more attention than another area and you can't do it all at the same time, whereas a big club can."