Manchester City will not go higher than £22 million for Everton defender Joleon Lescott.
The Daily Mail says England player Lescott is interested in City's offer but is reluctant to rock the boat at Everton and seems likely to abide by Goodison manager David Moyes's stance.
But City boss Mark Hughes, despite paying over the odds for several players, insists he is determined to walk away from deals when they exceed their true value and he believes £22m is around the optimum price for Lescott.
City have had bids of £15m and £18m rejected by Everton for Lescott and although Hughes has not completely given up, he is unwilling to go much higher for a 26-year-old who cost £5m when he moved to Merseyside from Wolves three years ago.