Hughes finally landed the Paraguayan in an £18m deal with Blackburn Rovers on Monday.

That move has been swiftly followed by the arrival of Stuart Taylor from Aston Villa as goalkeeping understudy to Shay Given.

Taylor already knows he will be restricted to domestic action only as City finally look to flex the financial muscle provided by their Abu Dhabi-based owners.

But Hughes feels it could have been much different if attempts to sign Santa Cruz during the past two transfer windows had been successful.

certain opponents

"If we could have had him in the side at the beginning of last season, his presence in certain games - against certain opponents - would very possibly have made a difference to the results we had," said Hughes.

"Sometimes you find you have to play a certain way because you are up against certain opponents, and now with Roque in the squad we have added that option to our range for next season.

"We are looking to get the right players in, with the right attitude and mentality as well, and he is an ambitious guy who wants to achieve and feels that he will be able to do that at Manchester City.

"He is made of the right stuff, a strong-willed player of the type that we want to bring in to this club."

Instead, Santa Cruz must help City force their way into the top four - with Taylor's experience ensuring Hughes has cover should Given be forced out of the side for any reason.

Taylor's arrival will allow Joe Hart to move on loan once his commitments with the England Under-21s side at the current European Championships in Sweden are at an end.

It was always Hughes' intention to let Hart leave to further a goalkeeping education that could now end up with a place at next summer's World Cup Finals, given he was a regular in Fabio Capello's England squad until Given arrived at City from Newcastle United.