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Departing Dunne earns words of praise from Man City boss

Manchester City boss Mark Hughes has paid tribute to outgoing skipper Richard Dunne, who is set to seal a £6million move to Aston Villa this weekend. The 29 year old has been at City for nine years.

"Richard has been a fantastic player for City over the years in some difficult times," said Hughes.

"I could have taken the view that it was important to keep him here, but I couldn't offer Richard the opportunity of regular football.

"It's a big year for him, with Ireland having ambitions to go to the World Cup, and of course he wants to be in good shape for that.

"I could have been quite selfish and told him to stay here as top-quality back-up for Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott.

"But I took the view that would have been disrespectful to Richard in terms of what he's done for this club.

"He has a good opportunity to go to Villa and play regular football, so I wasn't going to stand in his way of doing that."

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