Mark Hughes has left Blackburn Rovers and has taken the reins at Manchester City. Photograph: Andrew Yates/AFP/Getty Images

Mark Hughes has today been appointed as the new manager of Manchester City.

City parted company with Sven-Goran Eriksson on Monday and were immediately given permission to talk to Blackburn manager Hughes, 44, with a compensation package agreed yesterday.

Hughes was also believed to be interesting Chelsea after a successful four years at Rovers but has opted to move to Eastlands on a three-year deal.

“I am delighted to welcome Mark on board,” said the City chief executive, Garry Cook. “In our view he is the brightest young manager in the game and he was our number one target for the manager’s job.”

Cook himself has only just had his appointment confirmed by the club’s owner Thaksin Shinawatra and flew in from the United States to finalise the deal.

Cook continued: “He made it clear to us from the moment we met that he shared our vision and ambition to make Manchester City one of the top sides in the country.

“The club intends to invest in new players as well as securing the long-term services of key members of the current first-team squad.

“Mark has already identified some of the players and backroom staff that he wants to see here at City, and we will begin the process of recruiting them immediately.”

Hughes is expected to be followed to the City of Manchester Stadium by his assistants Mark Bowen and Eddie Niedzwiecki with compensation believed to be in the region of £5m.

In his four years at Ewood Park, Hughes - a former Blackburn player - transformed the side into a top-six side , twice qualifying for the UEFA Cup. Rovers also reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup twice and the last four of the Carling Cup.

Sam Allardyce is the early favourite to replace Hughes at Ewood Park, with Steve McClaren and Alan Shearer also featuring in the early betting.

About this articleCloseThis article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Wednesday June 04 2008. It was last updated at 13:43 on June 04 2008.

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