Mark Hughes is full of praise for his former Manchester City Football Club skipper.

After spending the best part of £40million on Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott in the summer, Hughes has allowed the 29-year-old to leave for Aston Villa in a £6million deal which was rubberstamped today.

"Richard has been outstanding for Manchester City. ”He is the ultimate professional and has served the club magnificently,” the Eastlands manager told the official website.

"Winning the player of the year award for four consecutive years tells you everything about him. We all wish him well for his future career at Aston Villa.

"I could have tried to stop him going and said I wanted him as a squad player, but out of respect for what he has done for City I wasn't going to do that."