Manchester City were last night trying to agree a compromise with Blackburn Rovers that would allow Mark Hughes to replace the sacked Sven-Goran Eriksson as their manager. Hughes will not come cheap, with four members of his coaching staff expected to follow him, but that will not be a problem for a man of Thaksin Shinawatra's wealth and the City owner hopes to conclude the deal before the end of the week.

>>guardian.co.uk

The club announced they had approached Blackburn yesterday morning, with Blackburn swiftly confirming that they had 'reluctantly' allowed Hughes permission to speak with us.

I would be surprised if matters had progressed this far unless Hughes was certain to agree to take over, yet there is a report in The Times that Hughes may be aiming to flush out an approach from Chelsea by agreeing to speak with us - although I would be surprised if Hughes had unanimous backing from all at Chelsea.

No doubt Hughes would split opinion if he was appointed - with some strong plus points but also some downside about him. I'll save a more in depth look until any appointment is confirmed.

UPDATE: Blackburn have confirmed in a club statement that both clubs have agreed a compensation package for Hughes' potential move, clearing the way for talks between the club and Hughes with a view to him being appointed as the replacement for Sven.

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