Source: Telegraph
Manchester City's Mark Hughes denies David Moyes' accusations of disrespect
City have so far failed to secure a deal for the 26-year-old, and last week Moyes spoke out against City and Hughes for their "disrespectful" approach to transfer negotiations. Moyes added that at the very least he would expect to receive a phone call from any club or manager interested in one of his players - something he claims is yet to materialise.
Despite the feud developing between the two managers, Hughes is adamant he has not acted in an uncouth manner and is right to have left all negotiations in the hands of the club's executive chairman Garry Cook.
"I could have lifted the phone and asked David if he would sell his centre-half and he would have said no," Hughes told the Guardian. "So where do you go from that point?
"If you ask every other club we have dealt with about transfers this summer, they will tell you we have conducted our business pretty correctly."
Last month Eveton rejected two bids of £15 million and £18m for Lescott and have now slapped a £30m price tag on the defender who is understood to have expressed a desire to leave Goodison Park, but Hughes added that City would not pay over the odds for any player.
"Maybe there is headroom to go back in [with another offer]," he continued. "But if they are talking about £30m it's difficult to speak about - we have our valuation of the player."
Meanwhile, Hughes has revealed that striker Roque Santa Cruz will not be fit for the start of the season next weekend and is still two weeks off being ready to train with the rest of the squad.
"Roque is training every day but still has a bit of rehab to go," said Hughes. "He is about two and half weeks away from coming back into the group. Then there will be a period of time when he will to get some general fitness.
"We are mindful of that as we have options up front. We won't push him back before he is ready."
