Hughes says his budget will be capped as he tries to revamp his squad.
The Welshman has broken the Potters’ transfer record in successive years, paying £12m for Xherdan Shaqiri in 2015 and £18m last summer for Giannelli Imbula.
But with Premier League fees expected to soar again this summer, Hughes says Stoke will be keeping spending in check.
“The owners have put a huge investment into the club and that’s why we are an established Premier League club,” said Hughes.
“But it’s fair to say huge amounts won’t be spent in the future.
“I knew that when I first came to the club, so I’ve always worked within those parameters and I’m comfortable with that.
“We will generate money from sales in the future because we’ve got better quality players now and if we want to trade we can do.
“But it will always be with a view to using those resources to the best of our ability.
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“We are trying to cut our cloth. We are not going into the market for £30m players.
“That’s not going to happen any time soon.
“We will try to compete in a difficult market because there’s a lot of clubs with similar resources to ourselves after the same players and that’s the challenge.
“We’ve got to pitch ourselves for these players and up against teams with similar background, so it’s not easy.”