a four-game suspension seems most likely -- Hughes now has another name to add to his list of absentees for the United game that already includes injured forwards Carlos Tevez, Robinho and Roque Santa Cruz.
That's just short of £100m of strike talent, if anyone cares to do the math.
And while groins, knees and ankles can weaken at any time, Hughes will be fuming that it was a short circuit in Adebayor's brain that is likely to account for the former Arsenal's man absence.
Sir Alex Ferguson couldn't have planned it better himself.
The United manager had already shown all the signs of becoming irritated by City's new found swagger this summer when he accused the club of still having a "small-club mentality" despite being backed by the apparently limitless wealth of Abu Dhabi-based Sheikh Mansour.
And there is no doubt Fergie would have been getting at least a little bit tetchy by City's perfect start of four wins in their opening four league games.
There's a long way to go, but a victory next weekend would undeniably have done City's credibility the power of good -- and not just in the bars and clubs of Manchester where the annual squabble for bragging rights has been given an added edge this year.
Just imagine what sort of message a win would have sent out. Dismissed as the cash-rich arrivistes, condemned as a half-built side packed with big-name mercenaries, victory would have delivered back-to-back wins against two of the perennial big four.
It still might happen. After all, City have beaten United in recent years with far worse teams than the one Hughes will select next week.
But after seeing United swat away Tottenham at the weekend, you just sense that, despite a hat-trick of titles, Ferguson's side are as motivated as they have ever been this season.
Adebayor hasn't yet been formally ruled out of the most hotly anticipated derby in years, although it's only a matter of time.
And infuriatingly for Hughes, it probably never crossed the striker's mind when he embarked on his destructive, point-proving mission against his former club that his current employers now need him more than ever.
The forward's shameful challenge on his ex-teammate Robin van Persie is certain to attract an FA ban.
Van Persie's initial tackle on his erstwhile colleague wasn't pretty, but that in no way excuses Adebayor's decision to kick out at the Holland international's face and leave him with a patchwork of scars across his cheek.
Van Persie was in no doubt he was the victim of a malicious act and issued a damning statement that cannot be ignored by the authorities.
"I am sad and disappointed by my former team-mate Emmanuel Adebayor's mindless and malicious stamp on me," Van Persie told the official Arsenal website. "He set out to hurt me and I feel lucky that I have not suffered a greater injury. The contact was only centimeters from my eye.
"I knew he was aiming for a collision because he changed the angle of his body to allow contact to be made. He moved backwards when his natural momentum would have taken him forward. I find that deeply disrespectful.
"We are both professional footballers and I know that the game is physical. I, too, have made hard and sometimes mistimed challenges but never with the intention of hurting an opponent.
"I have not received an apology from him, there were no words exchanged afterwards. He had his own agenda today and that is bad for football. It's bad for the game we all love. He has shown a real lack of class today, to me and the fans. We do not hide from the disappointment of losing the match but I needed to speak out about his behavior."
The offense was missed by referee Mark Clattenburg, but will be reviewed by an FA disciplinary panel.
And even if that awful stud-scraping episode is allowed to go unpunished, his goading 100-yard dash to taunt the Gunners fans after putting City up 3-1 certainly won't.
No matter that Adebayor felt he had a point to prove after claiming he had no choice but to leave Arsenal in the summer because he had become a target of abuse from the club's supporters.
No matter than in making the claim he failed to acknowledge that the reason he received stick was because he and his agent had appeared to actively seek a move away and then played like a drain when he remained stuck at the Emirates Stadium.
General consensus is that his behavior was inexcusable and, given the sensitivity towards any sign of crowd disorder following the riots at the recent West Ham versus Millwall Carling Cup tie, is certain to be punished if the reaction of watching FA chief executive Ian Watmore is anything to go by.
"He ran the whole length of the field to celebrate so we will have a good close look at that one on Monday when we have seen it again properly in the cold light of day," Watmore told the Daily Mirror newspaper. "I thought the stewards did a great job in calming the situation down. And it was to Manchester City's credit that nothing else happened."
Hughes pleaded for understanding, suggesting Adebayor should be "cut some slack" and recognition given to the highly-charged emotions surrounding the player's reunion with his former colleagues, but that plea is likely to fall on deaf ears.
And so it should. Adebayor isn't a fresh-faced kid, he's an astonishingly well paid international who should know better.
His City teammates may yet manage to divert the spotlight away from him by beating United. Don't bet on it, though.
Ian Winrow is a London-based football journalist and columnist for GlobalSoccerCenter.com.
