Real are close to landing the Portsmouth man after having a bid accepted for the French midfielder.

But City, who are financially backed by Abu Dhabi United Group, remain in Diarra's race, Hughes says.

"Diarra is a player I like. He's a good player but, at the moment, he's still a Portsmouth one," he told The Sun.

"Things may develop for him. But the window isn't open at this moment so we'll just wait and see what happens. You can make of that what you want."