As Mark Hughes strode down the Celtic Manor fairways yesterday clad in his Lacoste golfing gear, he looked more like an establishment figure than a radical.
But make no mistake, Comrade Hughes' blue revolution is sweeping through Eastlands.
Chairman Mark has already signalled his intent by pulling off a coup to beat Liverpool to the £12million signing of Gareth Barry and claims more big names will follow in this summer of change for Manchester City.
Players like Carlos Tevez, Samuel Eto'o, Kolo Toure and Roque Santa Cruz figure highly on his wish-list and Hughes is determined to rebuild City, bigger, better and stronger.
Hughes knows his buys during this transfer window will decide his future and he is determined to fulfil his vision for City.
Armed with Sheikh Mansour's billions, City could become the first club to smash the £200,000-a-week wage barrier, although Hughes claims players are attracted by the club's potential. "A lot of players now understand what we're trying to do at the club and Gareth wants to be part of that," he said.
"We've got an idea where we want to be in the next few years. We want players to buy into that idea and we can offer players a different experience.
"Hopefully it will be an enjoyable one and the next few years are going to be exciting for everybody connected to Manchester City and the players recognise that.
"We are obviously going to go back into the market. We still feel there are areas of the team we want to improve and if players become available, then we will try and acquire them.
"We've made a good start and we're happy with that.
"It's going to be an interesting summer for everybody involved with Manchester City."
That's one way of putting it and the number of players coming in is only likely to be dwarfed by the mass exodus from Eastlands.
Hughes has spent his first 12 months evaluating his squad at City and it is clear that most of the players he inherited from Sven Goran Eriksson may not make the cut. He is going to take a wrecking ball to his squad and when the dust finally settles, Stephen Ireland could be the only survivor from the players he inherited last summer.
Not even skipper Richard Dunne is safe and the Irish international, who turns 30 in September, had a poor season by his standards.
Hughes has made no secret of his desire to sign a commanding central defender and feels Toure could yet be prised away from Arsenal. Several of the young players brought through the ranks at City will also be on their way through the exit.
Teenage striker Daniel Sturridge is already joining Chelsea on a free after City refused to meet his demands for a new £65,000-aweek deal.
"We've offered Daniel a deal that we think is at the level he should be at," said Hughes. "He's in a strong position because he's in the last year of his contract.
"He's keeping his options open, which he has done for quite some time. We just have to wait and see.
"Obviously I have made my intentions very clear to him. I would like him to stay, but it may be out of our hands."
England hopeful Joe Hart could be farmed out on loan after being demoted to No.2 by Shay Given and Hughes admits he has struggled to cope with his sudden fall from grace.
"Joe is frustrated and obviously wants to play," said Hughes. "We will look at his situation in the coming weeks and it might be to both Joe's and the club's benefit if he did go out on loan."
Micah Richards is interesting Aston Villa and could be sold because he has not impressed Hughes with his poor attitude.
Hughes feels the onetime England star is a poor trainer and sent him from the training ground after a recent bust-up.
Doubts over Michael Johnson's future remain and although Hughes rates him as a player, he is concerned by the midfielder's injury record and his love of the high life.
Definitely being turfed out this summer are Danny Mills, Michael Ball, Dietmar Hamann and Glauber Berti, who are out of contract.
Hughes will also listen to offers for Jo, Elano, Tal Ben-Haim, Javier Garrido, Darius Vassell, Valeri Bojinov, Felipe Caicedo, Gelson Fernandes, Benjani Mwaruwari and Kasper Schmeichel.
Elano, from the safety of the other side of the Atlantic in Brazil, claims he wants to join Inter Milan and Hughes will shed few tears if he can offload the troublesome Brazilian. Although Elano is a favourite with the fans, his future at City has been thrown into even greater doubt by Barry's arrival.
The Samba star would love to team up with Jose Mourinho at the San Siro and said: "I have a contract with Manchester City, but I hope the Nerazzurri do not see this as a constraint. I would wear the Inter shirt.
"Jose Mourinho is great. His teams always leave their mark, and every player who has worked with him considers him a phenomenon.
"I hope my friend Julio Cesar can put in a good word for me."
All change on Eastlands front ... the likely transfers
INS:
Gareth Barry (Villa) £12m, Carlos Tevez (Man Utd) £32m, Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona) £40m, Kolo Toure (Arsenal) £15m, Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn) £20m.
OUTS:
Jo £10m, Micah Richards (Villa) £10m, Richard Dunne (Sunderland) £8m, Elano (Inter) £7m, Mwaruwari Benjani £5m, Valeri Bojinov £4m, Felipe Caicedo £3m, Javier Garrido £2m, Gelson Fernandes £2m, Tal Ben-Haim £1.5m, Darius Vassell £1m, Kasper Schmeichel £1m, Dietmar Hamann, Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea), Danny Mills, Michael Ball, Glauber Berti (all free) Joe Hart (Birmingham) loan.
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