A prodigy at Santos, drawing comparisons to Pele, Robinho moved to Real Madrid in 2005.
Just three years later, the Brazilian was the subject of perhaps the most stunning transfer in football history as he signed for Manchester City on the final day of the transfer window.
The price of £32.5 million might not seem much by modern standards. At the time, it was a British record transfer fee, and came after rumours that Chelsea were plotting a move for the Brazil international.
The circus around the transfer led to an embarrassing slip of the tongue from Robinho, when he claimed he was happy to have agreed to sign with Chelsea soon after joining City (luckily, a reporter was on hand to correct him).
Not only was this a ground-shaking transfer, it was also one of the Premier League’s true one-season wonders. By the strictest of definitions, too, as Robinho played just one full season with City before returning to Santos on loan in 2010.
A transfer which was meant to propel City in Champions League betting odds under new ownership had no such impact.
In fact, Robinho didn’t do a great deal to change Premier League odds either, as City finished 10th in his lone campaign in the northwest.
👌 @Robinho, the hattrick hero! #mancity pic.twitter.com/VQcFftOfVO
— Manchester City (@ManCity) October 26, 2017
Despite scoring 11 times in his first 14 Premier League matches for City, Robinho’s attitude came into question, and it was reported he left a team training camp in Tenerife.
Speaking to FourFourTwo in 2017, Robinho shared his version of events.
"When I arrived at City, I hadn’t had any vacation time and he promised me he'd give me one week to get some rest.
"I believed what he told me so when I travelled to Tenerife, I went to him and said, "Mister, can I have my vacation now?"
"He said, "OK." I packed my things, let the club know that I was leaving and enjoyed a week back home because he had allowed me to go—he had given me his word."
Of course, City became a force in the following years, but Robinho played no part as he looked for a move abroad when he returned from his loan with Santos.
Ultimately, he joined Milan on a permanent deal in the summer of 2010, ensuring his time as a factor in Premier League predictions was short-lived.
While he didn’t come close to matching expectations after City splashed such an extravagant fee, the 2008-09 campaign was a taster of what Robinho’s career in England could have been.
He finished with 14 league goals (only Nicolas Anelka, Cristiano Ronaldo and Steven Gerrard had more).
The best Brazilians have rarely come to the Premier League, with Kaka, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and others opting to stay in Spain and Italy.
Robinho, albeit for a short period, bucked that trend, giving a sighting of samba flair among the industry and physicality of the Premier League.
Memories of Robinho’s playing days have been forever tarnished by his involvement in the gang rape of a woman in Milan in 2017, however.
The former Brazilian international was found guilty of sexual assault and sentenced to nine years in prison. The conviction was upheld in early 2022, and an international arrest warrant was given in February of the same year.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
FIRST PUBLISHED: 31st August 2022
