Mark Hughes is convinced that Samuel Eto'o and Carlos Tévez are not interested in joining Manchester City only because of the vast riches on offer.

But while the manager is prepared to be patient in the pursuit of both strikers, he has warned them that the club will not be messed around. City hope to agree a £25.5 million deal for Tévez, the former Manchester United forward, by the end of this week or early next week and are awaiting the next move of Eto'o, the three-times African Footballer of the Year being involved in a cash dispute with Barcelona that threatens to scupper a prospective £25 million transfer.

Eto'o stands to earn about £200,000 a week, including bonuses, at City - double his wages at Barcelona - but Hughes rebutted suggestions that the Cameroon forward might want to go to the club only for the money and pointed to his own move from United to Chelsea in 1995 as an example of a leading player taking on a new challenge at a smaller and less successful club.

“We're not about making moves in the transfer market just to make statements about where we are in the football world,” Hughes said. “I think people understand what we are trying to do here - build something for the future. We will do that by attracting players and maybe we give them a different challenge.

“It's not just about going to top clubs and sustaining the success those clubs have in the past. Here you get the chance to be part of something right from the beginning.

“I had the opportunity when I went to Chelsea. They had a long time without winning a trophy but I went there and was part of a Chelsea team that won a trophy [the FA Cup in 1997]. That was something I really enjoyed and it's a different challenge.

“Yes, they will be financially rewarded but we offer them something different, maybe.”

Hughes remains hopeful that deals for Tévez and Eto'o can be wrapped up soon, although he has made it clear that he will look elsewhere if the respective situations drag on.

“If we get to a point where we feel things aren't going to happen, that's the time we walk away, as we've done in the past,” he said. “We made an offer for Eto'o and now there seems to be a situation between the player and his club. That has to be resolved by the player and the club he's at.”