Players often dream of playing for the biggest and most successful clubs in the world. They are often ready to do and sacrifice anything to get to that point. However, like any other aspect of life, they have to work hard for it and play for smaller clubs as stepping stones.
Robinho was the first transfer to Manchester City after it was bought by Arab owners. He was the start of a new era in Manchester; however, many thought that the Brazilian didn’t want to be there. And now it has been confirmed by the manager of the club at the time.
Mark Hughes revealed unpleasant truth about Robinho’s City transfer
It was former Manchester City manager Mark Hughes who was there when the club was taken over in 2008 by City Football Group. His first transfer to the club was Robinho from Real Madrid, a big move for a relatively small club like City at the time.
Manchester City may be the biggest club in England at the moment, but that was not always the case. Instead, it was neighboring rivals Manchester United that were hugely successful and the obvious choice for many players.
At the time, many believed that Robinho was actually fooled into joining City, having thought it was United he was going to. And now the rumors have finally been somewhat confirmed by Mark himself.
The manager recently spoke on the YouTube channel ‘No Tippy Tappy Football‘. He admitted that Robinho may have thought he was tricked into joining the wrong Manchester club.
“There’s probably a grain of truth in the rumor that Robinho thought he was actually signing for Manchester United.”
Mark said that Robinho didn’t even recognize him at the airport and may have expected to see legendary United manager Sir Alex Ferguson instead. “He certainly didn’t recognize me when he turned up, he was probably expecting to see Sir Alex Ferguson at the airport! He was probably a bit disappointed to say the least.”
Later according to talkSPORT, it was revealed that Robinho had actually thought he would be going to Chelsea instead, though there was also talk that Real Madrid wanted to sell him to Manchester United to bring Cristiano Ronaldo to the club.
Closer look at Robinho’s City career
Robinho was linked with a move away from Real Madrid in 2008, despite his brilliant performances there. He was allowed to leave for Manchester City for a fee of €42 million on the last day of the summer transfer window.
In his first season, the Brazilian impressed the fans and team. He scored 15 goals and provided nine assists in 41 games played. 14 of those goals came in the Premier League, where he was the fourth-top scorer. The club also only finished in 10th place.
In his second season, he couldn’t replicate his previous success. He was injured for three months and only played 12 games with only one goal. He soon found himself out of the starting lineup, coinciding with the arrival of Italian manager Roberto Mancini there, who was hated by many of his players.
He asked for a move away in the January transfer window and was allowed to move to Brazilian club Santos on a six-month loan. The loan move was largely due to the fact that the World Cup was coming and he wanted to be in the national squad and so needed to play games.
While he did return to City after his loan ended, he expressed his desire to leave the club. He was allowed to do so, leaving for a fee of ÂŁ15 million to Italian giants AC Milan, with his City career ending too soon.
Was Robinho at Manchester City a missed opportunity? Tell us what you think in the comments section.
