Manchester City boss Mark Hughes believes Real Madrid's massive spending spree will stimulate the transfer market this summer.

Providing Real's astounding £80million move for Cristiano Ronaldo reaches a positive conclusion later this month, almost £140million of new money will be swishing about given Kaka has already made a record-breaking move to the Bernabeu from Real Madrid.

And, as he unveiled his new £12million capture Gareth Barry, Hughes confirmed his belief that a flurry of activity can now be anticipated.

"This may well stimulate the market," said Hughes.

"There is a lot of money out there with some big clubs going to the market, so it could be an interesting time for everybody."

After getting their own fingers burned trying to lure Kaka to Eastlands in January, Hughes is interested to see the difference in attitude to Real's work.

And he notes the finance his own club will have to come up with should they eventually wish to compete on the same level.

"It is a huge amount of money," said Hughes.

"We pursued one of those players but that was viewed in a different light. I will be interested to see if the reaction to Real Madrid is similar to when we tried to bring Kaka here.

"But we have shown a willingness to attract the top players in the world and we will continue to try and do that.

"The level of investment you need to allocate is huge, which is illustrated by the deals that have been done in the last few days.

"If you want to compete in that market you have to pay that money, although there is no indication we will be doing it in the near future."

Given Hughes smashed the British transfer record to sign Robinho last August, the City chief has shown a willingness to fork out big sums himself.

However, he is convinced the money spent on Barry will ultimately prove to be a bargain even if the England star only had a year remaining on his Aston Villa contract.

"We have got a bargain because Gareth is coming into the best years of his career," said Hughes.

"He is now a senior player but I only became a stronger person when I moved somewhere else.

"His standing in the game will raise as a result of us paying a significant amount of money for him."

Hughes confirmed he sees Barry's leadership qualities and passing abilities as being best utilised in central midfield, the role he fulfils for England.

With Nigel de Jong and Vincent Kompany also excelling in that area of the field, it gives a clear indication to Hughes thinking as he looks to build a stronger unit, capable of withstanding Premier League combat.

Other targets, particularly Carlos Tevez and Roque Santa Cruz continue to be mentioned, although Hughes is shedding little light on their current progress.

"We are not going to go into speculation and hypothetical situations. It is not something worth discussing," he said.

"When good players come onto the market you have to look at each situation and decide whether it is right for you at that moment in time.

"There are a lot of players who would like to be part of what we are doing.

"We do our homework and due diligence and then make a decision on whether a player can be a Manchester City player. If so, we try to acquire them.

"But we will not specify certain individuals whether people want us to or not."