Mark Hughes unveiled Roque Santa Cruz as his latest signing today, but the Manchester City manager admitted that he still wants to sign Samuel Eto'o from Barcelona and remains interested in Carlos Tevez, who has left Manchester United.

Eto'o has said that he would prefer to stay with Barcelona despite a disagreement with the club over whether he is entitled to a cut of the £25 million that City are prepared to pay, in addition to wages of £200,000 per week. Hughes, though, has not abandoned hope of signing the Cameroon forward.

"We've lodged a bid for Samuel Eto'o," Hughes said. "We have targeted players we think can help us and he's certainly someone we have a lot of respect for and we feel he can help us. There's always an element of frustration when you can't conclude deals very quickly, but we'll give every deal the patience it deserves.

"If we get to a situation where we feel that things aren't going to happen, and we feel the process is stalling and we can't move it forward, then that's the time we walk away. We've done that before.

"We obviously made an offer to Barcelona and now there seems to be a situation between the player and his club. We're not involved in that. That needs to be resolved between the player and his club. We just have to sit back and see what develops. Patience is a word that has been mentioned and we may need some of it."

That will also be true of a possible signing of Tevez, which Hughes admitted is a more distant prospect. "I am a huge admirer of Carlos," he said. "Everyone is aware of his situation and we are interested, as we are in all top quality players. We will have to see what happens but these are very early days."

Hughes is aware that City under-achieved in most people's eyes last season bearing in mind the size of their outlay on players, but he does not intend to let the same thing happen this season.

"If we can get the players we are hoping for we will have more tools at our disposal to do the job," he said. "We are trying to address that situation and we feel we are getting closer.

"Leading into the new season we are in better shape to be better prepared than we were last year, when expectations were the same as they will be this time. Last year we couldn't fulfil them. This time I think we will."

Santa Cruz, the Paraguay forward signed from Blackburn Rovers for £18 million, put a brave face on the news that he could face even more competition for a place in the City starting XI. "The aim is the top four and that is certainly the mentality among the players," he said. "It might not happen overnight but we will move in the right way."