Mark Hughes has launched a £12million offer for Manchester City midfielder Fabian Delph.

Hughes, the Stoke manager, wants the England international to become his third signing of the summer and is ready to lodge a significant cash offer, with City reluctant to sanction a loan move. West Brom have also had talks over a possible deal and, at this stage, it appears to be a straight fight between the two Midlands clubs over the midfielder's signature.

But Stoke have moved to the front of the race after stepping up their interest in the last 48 hours as Hughes attempts to strengthen his squad.

Delph, 27, has been made available by Pep Guardiola this summer and is on the market for around £12million, two years after his controversial move from Aston Villa to the Etihad Stadium.

Hughes has identified the recruitment of an energetic midfielder as a priority despite the capture of Darren Fletcher from West Brom, and wants Delph to follow the Scot by moving to the bet365 Stadium.

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Newcastle are also believed to be keen on Delph but may struggle to pay the fee required by Manchester City.

Hughes said: "We have asked for an idea in terms of the possibility of doing something with Fabian Delph.

"He is one of a number of players we are looking at, but we speak to a lot of clubs and ask about their plans for certain players.

"Fabian is one that we have asked about, because he is a good footballer, but with certain deals you are in the hands of other clubs.

"We are very active in the market at the moment, and we are hopeful that things will begin to move quickly for us."

Delph has struggled for minutes at Manchester City credit: Reuters

Stoke fly out to Switzerland on Sunday for a mini-tour, in which they will play Neuchatel Xamax, Young Boys Bern and Monaco.

Hughes is also working on player departures, with Jon Walters poised to complete a £3m move to Burnley over the weekend. Glenn Whelan is expected to join Aston Villa for a fee of just over £1m.

Record £18.3m signing Giannelli Imbula, Philipp Wollscheid, Marc Muniesa and Joselu are also available to raise money for further transfers.