Sparky Coy Over Roque Santa Cruz

[White Noise]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11681_6339749,00.html

Hughes coy over Roque talk


Fulham boss refuses to confirm if interested in City striker


By Ben Collins   Last updated: 26th August 2010   

Fulham boss Mark Hughes has refused to comment on reports he is interested in signing Roque Santa Cruz for a third time.

Hughes brought Santa Cruz to England in 2007 while Blackburn boss, signing the Paraguay striker from Bayern Munich for £3.8million.

Hughes then spent £17.5m taking Santa Cruz to Manchester City last summer but injuries restricted his first-team opportunities and he only made six league starts last season.

The 28-year-old remains down the pecking order at Eastlands, with Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor first-choice strikers while Jo is back in favour under current Blues boss Roberto Mancini.

Loan link
Hughes was therefore said to be lining up a loan deal for Santa Cruz, but he was keeping his cards close to his chest on Thursday when asked if a deal could be done before the transfer deadline.

"I'll always be interested in good players but I think it's unfair to be questioned on players that are at other clubs," Hughes told Sky Sports News.

"It will happen, I understand it's that time of the year we get put on the spot.

"But from our point of view, we're looking to add to the quality that we already have.

"We're pleased with bringing in Moussa Dembele and Rafik Halliche, which we feel is good business at this time.

"We're trying to add to what we already have and there's still time to do other deals so we'll wait and see."

Dembele and Halliche are Hughes' only signings so far since being named Fulham boss at the end of last month, while Philippe Senderos and Jonathan Greening arrived at Craven Cottage earlier in the summer.

[AlFayedsChequebook]

The question is: Would you buy Roque Santa Cruz for £5m?

[SmithyFFC]

The question is: Would you buy Roque Santa Cruz for £5m?

The answer is: no

[Rupert]

This is a very good reply by the gaffer. Remember, he hit out last week at Arsenal trying to unsettle players by saying they were interested in them, so here he is refusing to say he is interested in a player, and thus unsettling him, even if he appears to be surplus to requirements. Avoids the hypocrisy charge which has been flying round Mr Roy H today.

[Whiteroom]

Do we need him now? We have got our new wonderboy who I am really looking forward to watching throughout the season and I don't wast him to replace Bobby Dempsey or Gera. I actually think that Clint should drop back to midfield but that still leaves Bobby and Gera who I think are both great. I think that what we are crying out for is a centre mid.