Manchester City's new owners have moved to allay fears that they may meddle in team affairs by insisting that Mark Hughes will be free to manage without interference.

Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, has had several run-ins with George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks over transfer policy since the Americans' takeover at Anfield in February last year, while Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, has also invited accusations of interference, with the club on their fourth manager in five years since the Russian billionaire's buyout.

Elsewhere, Alan Curbishley and Kevin Keegan resigned this month as the managers of West Ham United and Newcastle United respectively after complaining that they did not have complete control over the team, but City's new hierarchy is adamant that the club will not go down the same route after Sheikh Mansour's £200million takeover.

“Once owners start thinking that they know better than the coach, it's a recipe for disaster,” Khaldoon alMubarak, the new City chairman, said yesterday. “We believe in professional empowerment. One thing that I have made very clear to Mark Hughes is that any player he wants will come from him.

“Transfers come from his requirements, his plan for the club. I'm a fan, but I am not an expert. It's Mark who runs the club and Mark who makes the football decisions. We are here to support and make financial decisions, but we are not here to teach Mark or Garry Cook [the executive chairman] what to do.

“They are professionals, we trust them, we have confidence in them and we are going to support them. Mark is one of the gems that we found in this club when we came here.”

Al-Mubarak, who will be Hughes's principal point of contact, along with Cook, talked also about building a dynasty at City over the next ten years, with the manager at the helm, echoing Sheikh Mansour's claims that there will be no quick fixes. “We are reasonable and pragmatic, we are looking ten years ahead starting today, and I think all our decisions will be with a long-term perspective,” al-Mubarak, who will announce a restructured board in the coming weeks, said.

“We trust the manager, we trust his judgment, we are patient and we understand this club needs to develop. We obviously want City to be a top club and to win trophies.

“Whether it takes 'x' amount of years, I don't know, but Mark will put a plan together to win trophies and we will be patient.”

- Sheikh Mansour's involvement at City provoked another angry response yesterday from Arsène Wenger, who questioned the Abu Dhabi royal's decision to buy the club, but, as City prepared for their Carling Cup second-round tie away to Brighton & Hove Albion this evening, Hughes suggested that the Arsenal manager would be better off minding his own business.

“More people are asking questions of the top four managers about ourselves than in the past and maybe some of their responses aren't as considered given that they're not in full possession of the facts most of the time,” Hughes said.