MARK Hughes last night said he is excited by the future as he celebrated signing a new deal with Blackburn Rovers.

The ambitious Welshman yesterday underlined his long-term commitment to making Rovers an established top-10 Premiership force by agreeing a new, improved contract, which ties him to the club until the summer of 2010.

But, although Hughes is convinced he is in charge of a club that is going places, the 44-year-old ultimately believes a new investor is needed if he is to continue building on the success of the last three years.

Reflecting on the search for a possible successor to the Walker Trustees, who currently own 99.8 per cent of the club, the Rovers chief said: "It would be helpful if we could get investors in that would move the club forward and enable me to possibly compete with the other clubs in and around us.

"We're not in that situation at the moment. But there's no point in selling the club just to stand still.

"The motivation of the trustees is they won't sell to someone who'll just come in and nothing will change, because there's no reason to.

"If a buyer comes in that can move the club forward then I'm sure they'll sell. But that hasn't happened as of yet so we'll keep going."

The Walker Trustees have made it clear they would be willing to sell their shares, providing a fit and proper' buyer steps forward with enough financial clout to take the club to the next level.

So far, several parties have expressed an interest, including the American-based millionaire Dan Williams, but no individual or group has lodged an offer deemed acceptable by the trustees.

However, the club's corporate advisers, Rothschilds, are still in dialogue with a number of rival groups.

"There was a lot of talk at the beginning of the year, but that seems to have gone very quiet," said Hughes.

"There may be other interested parties but I don't think anything has moved on at a pace for me to say, yes, there is something in the offing'.

"I think things are happening behind the scenes, but nothing that we can get excited about at the moment."

With most of Rovers' immediate rivals now in the hands of new investors, Hughes insists the battle to compete on an equal footing is becoming more and more difficult.

However, it is a challenge the former Manchester United star clearly relishes, hence his decision to commit his long-term future.

Hughes said: "Who knows how far we can go in the next few years? We'll obviously have to keep investing in the squad because a lot of clubs in and around us have got a hell of a lot more resources than we have.

"I've done okay in the transfer market up to this point, with guys who have come in and really excelled. But there's no guarantee that will happen every year.

"Plucking the Chris Sambas and Ryan Nelsens out of the air becomes more and more difficult, but we will continue to try to do that.

"The group of players we have at the moment is good, it's strong, and there's a good variation as well.

"I think the next couple of years could be very significant for us.

"If I got the right amount of backing then I'd back my judgement to continue to keep the club going forwards.

"I think we're an attractive proposition (for potential investors) but, obviously, it takes a lot of money.

"Someone said recently the days of multi-millionaires being able to own Premier League clubs has gone; now you need billionaires.

"That's the ideal; to get someone in who could back you to that extent. But they are few and far between."

As for signing his new deal, which is a fixed-term three year contract followed thereafter by a rolling 12-month agreement, Hughes added: "I'm delighted that I've been able to sign it.

"I think it's important that there's continuity at the club, which there will be now, and it's easy for me because I know I am working with a chairman and a board that will support me, and support the ideas that I have."