No sooner had Mark Hughes stopped marvelling last night at the physique of Jô, the towering young Brazil striker for whom Manchester City have paid a club-record fee of about £19million, than he was stepping up his bid to sign Ronaldinho, whom he described, with an unfortunate slip of the tongue, as “a huge world star”.

Huge is certainly one way of describing Ronaldinho these days, with the forward appearing to carry excess weight last week as he played in a exhibition match in Venezuela, his first run-out since March. Hughes, the City manager, acknowledged that Ronaldinho, who is surplus to requirements at Barcelona, had lost some of his sparkle over the past 18 months, but suggested that the 28-year-old would rediscover his appetite for football once City's coaching staff had whipped him into shape.

“You do find at this stage of the season some players aren't in the peak of fitness,” Hughes said when asked about Ronaldinho's physical condition. “But let's make no doubt about it, if he comes to this club, we will get him up to speed because that's the way we work here. He is an outstanding football player. This part of his career has been frustrating for him.

“He would feel that the last 18 months he hasn't given what he is capable of, but we are offering him an opportunity that we hope will stimulate him. In the discussions he has had with the club, he has been very positive about the idea of coming here.”

Thaksin Shinawatra, the City owner, has been pursuing Ronaldinho since April, when Sven-Göran Eriksson was the club's manager and Hughes was in charge of Blackburn Rovers. Negotiations have been held with the player's brother and agent, Roberto Assis, with Barcelona and with numerous other parties, such as Nike, the sportswear company, with a view to offering him a package worth in excess of £100,000 a week. City are waiting for a firm answer, but Hughes suggested that the club would be patient if the end result was Ronaldinho, twice the World Player of the Year, playing for City next season.

If that is the case, he will have Brazilian company in the City forward line, the 6ft 4in Jô completing his protracted transfer from CSKA Moscow after the deal was approved by the Premier League, which had sought assurances that he was not part-owned by any third party, and by the Home Office, which granted him a work permit even though, with only one full cap, the 21-year-old does not meet the initial criteria.

Hughes suggested that Jô is capable of scoring 20 goals next season and there was more good news when the manager confirmed that Joe Hart, the goalkeeper, and Richard Dunne, the captain, are close to signing new long-term contracts.