THE BEST YET FOR HUGHES

Wright-Phillips is congratulated by team-mates.

Mark Hughes saluted his six-shooters after Manchester City crushed Portsmouth to signal the start of the new era at Eastlands.

City triumphed 6-0 in front of the club's new chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who has been appointed by billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Hughes described it as the best display by a team he has managed.

He said: "It was the best performance by one of my teams by a country mile.

"If you had to pick any day to impress people today was the day to do it.

"From start to finish our drive and determination and our ability to pick the right pass and create chances was evident for all to see. It was a fantastic day for us.

"Portsmouth are a good side but today they were not allowed to play their game."

Jo, Richard Dunne, Robinho and Shaun Wright-Phillips plus substitutes Ched Evans and Gelson Fernandes each scored in a stunning all-round display.

Hughes picked out Robinho, Stephen Ireland, Wright-Phillips and Vincent Kompany as the star performers.

He added: "There were outstanding personal performances within a great team performance.

"Stephen Ireland again was exceptional and has been for many weeks, and we hope we can sustain him.

"Robinho will grab headlines and rightly so and there were good performances by Vincent and Shaun and a clean sheet as well.

"In the end I was taking people off to allow them a standing ovation - and that's the only reason I made the substitutions to be perfectly honest."

Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp was shell-shocked and admitted his defence and goalkeeper David James had an awful game.

Redknapp said: "I'm bitterly disappointed - I didn't see that coming as we were a team on form on the back of three fantastic wins .

"We gave away two terrible goals in the first half, but towards the end of the first half we had some chances and thought we could get back into this game.

"Jermain Defoe had a chance just after the break and then they played a pass and there were two of them running through on our goal. Our defensive play today was abysmal."

Redknapp said he was not envious about Hughes spending power, and insisted his defence had played out of character.

He added: "It was a chapter of errors and they did not have much to say for themselves afterwards.

"Tomorrow we will have a meeting and look at all the goals and where we went wrong."

(reopens) A statement from Sheikh Mansour on the club's official website has confirmed the transfer of ownership will go ahead on Tuesday.

It read: "I am delighted to tell you negotiations are complete and the transfer of ownership will take place next Tuesday.

" I have asked my friend Khaldoon Al Mubarak to take on the position of chairman of the club. My request to him has been to put together a board and executive team that is worthy of the heritage and potential of Manchester City.

"Khaldoon and I have agreed that the we will not be making any more announcements for a while as we really now need to sit down with the manager, executive chairman and key staff and put together plans that will, over time, get the club to where we want it to be.

"We are ambitious for the club, like you, but not unreasonably so and we understand it takes time to build a team capable of sustaining a presence in the top four of the Premier League and winning European honours.

"We know a little of the history at City also and whilst we want to bring in the best players in the world, we also want to see the academy continue to develop talent and give Mark Hughes the chance to bring home-grown players into the team.

"We consider Mark Hughes to be one of the prime assets of the club. We will back his judgement in what players to bring in and we look forward to working more closely with him in the future.

"We are building a structure for the future - not just a team of all-stars."

"I am a football fan, and I hope that you will soon see that I am now also a Manchester City fan.

"But I am also a long-term investor and that is probably more important to the club...because it means we are here for the long haul and that we will act always in the best interests of the club and all of its stakeholders, but especially you the fans."