Premier League - Robinho nerves over City switch

Eurosport - Tue, 23 Sep 10:34:00 2008

Mark Hughes has conceded that Brazil star Robinho was "apprehensive" about swapping Real Madrid for Manchester City.

2008-2009 Manchester City Robinho - 0

City broke the British transfer record, bankrolled by an influx of cash from their new Abu Dhabi-based owners, when they outflanked Chelsea on transfer deadline day to secure the 24-year-old's signature for £32.5 million.

And Hughes has admitted the club had to sell themselves to the player to persuade him to join a side who finished ninth - seven places below the Stamford Bridge club - last term.

"The move happened very quickly for him," said Hughes.

"The key to it was he was determined to leave Real Madrid. But I don't think it was a case of being convenient.

"We pitched to him, we said 'listen, this is where we need to go and we're going to bring in good players. We already have good players at our club and they will help you perform to a high standard'.

"Initially he showed signs of being apprehensive about the situation he found himself in but he's had great support from his Brazil colleagues here - Elano, Jo and Glauber Berti.

"That apprehension went very, very quickly."

And the former Blackburn and Wales boss believes Robinho is now set to enjoy a glittering career with City, where he will get the adulation he lacked at the Bernabeu.

"When he was at Madrid he wanted to play every week and felt he wasn't getting that chance. Maybe he felt he wasn't going to be loved as much as, obviously, he is here."

Sporting Life / Eurosport

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  1. It dont matter what's the reason he went to Man C­ for, the only thing that matters is that he played­ well! Look at that instead of begrudging him and Man C­ the $$$. Would you be working for someone who paid you­ $10 or $100 an hour doing the same job??? Answer that­ first before you start judging ppl.

    From maximusLAC C, on Thu 25 Sep 6:53AM

  2. if robbo wanted to leave madrid i dont blame him i live­ in spain and he was treated like @#$% good on him.all­ be it he went to man city at end of day its up to him­ cash or pride good luck in future games. im a man utd­ fan personally and i dont care who goes to city am just­ sick of read @#$% from chelsea fans get over it and get­ on with your own game moaning gets.

    From Lisa, on Tue 23 Sep 10:04PM

  3. Look at what happened to Napoli when they signed­ Maradona from FC Barcelona ; twice champion of Italy,­ the double in '87 and won the UEFA Cup in­ '89.
    Why not Man City with Robinho?

    From Yves, on Tue 23 Sep 7:43PM

  4. Dezzy this is how things were going for chelsea before­ abrahimovic came:

    00/01 6th this was when bates was­ spending a bunddle on players like hassselbank (15m),­ lampard (11m), gudjohnson (8m) and others
    01/02­ 6th
    02/03 4th on the last day of the season against­ pipping a very poor liverpool team, even newcastle­ finished higher!!!
    *** Abrahimovich
    03/04 2nd after­ spending something like 100 million on players

    so you­ see, chelsea where a ok side before abrahimovic came­ cuz they spent alot of money, then roman came and spent­ even more, other than that like 10yrs ago nobody­ outside of england knew anything of chelsea, just like­ Man city now

    From Hatem, on Tue 23 Sep 6:25PM

  5. Sorry dezzy(post14)when Chelsea came 2nd with Ranieri­ they had already gotten Abramovich's money. They­ bought Cole,Duff,Bridge,Johnson etc. They were good but­ the money put them over the top. I think Man City could­ be another Chelsea. Chelsea came 2nd their first season­ with money and won the 2 years thereafter. Man City had­ only one day of the transfer window to work with. I­ think Man City will effectively make it a Big 5. Their­ major concern though is getting the really top players­ to come because there seems to be an outcry against­ players just going there for the money and maybe some­ players wouldnt like their reputations tarnished.­ Chelsea hadnt won the league for 50 years before Roman­ and Man City havent won in 40 so i think this buyout is­ just another part of the footballing cycle.

    From Kareem G, on Tue 23 Sep 6:01PM

  6. It saddens me to see all this negativity and scathing­ stuff about City, Jealousy in a cheap disguise. I­ don't and never have begrudged any team big money,­ now all of a sudden City are beginning to knock on the­ door of the "top four" and it's all­ "oh what a small club, how dare they etc­ etc..." what a crock of sh@T!!!!, get used to­ MANCHESTER CITY up there, competition is good for the­ game, apart from Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool and­ Arsenal supporters,the majority of footie fans in­ England wouldn't begrudge MCFC this long-awaited­ pot of gold!.

    From mainerdmauler, on Tue 23 Sep 5:02PM
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Mark Hughes will be next to be sacked. If I had money­ to get the best players, I would be really stupid in ­ not finding them the best manager. So Mark, start­ thinking about it; we mean business here, we mean big­ money business.

    From Affi, on Tue 23 Sep 3:47PM

  8. everyone seems to forget chelsea had the best season­ with Raneri and finished 2nd behind Man u the season­ before Roaman abromovich came along and pretty sure it­ was 3 the season before that so if you ask me we had it­ all coming to us,
    And I think the London scene sold it­ to roman as well being on the fashinable Kings rd and­ all that must off appealed to so can we all stop­ ranting about the russian

    From Paul, on Tue 23 Sep 3:26PM

  9. Yes Mr Jonnyroastbeef,understood!But'where were­ Chelsea before Mr.Oil Rich Abramovich came along with­ his millions+? You have to understand in this day and­ age of the 'cash cow' that any team at any­ given time could benefit and it just so happens that­ -for a change-a team like Man City have been hit with­ the lucky stick and good luck to them.
    It has to be­ good for the game that a team without as many honours­ has been fortunate.
    Are we seeing the dawn of a new­ era? I wonder! Would you be a Chelsea fan by­ chance:-)
    Man U Fan!

    From val_e46, on Tue 23 Sep 1:19PM

  10. As a Walsall fan its great to see top world class­ players going to other clubs rather than the so called­ big four.Lets hope some other clubs can break them up­ cos to me the premership is getting rather boring cos­ thats all you hear about is the big four .

    From PAUL, on Tue 23 Sep 1:10PM

  11. Everyone keeps saying that Robinho chased the money. ­ Wasn't it the case that Chelsea did not want to­ come up with the extra money that REal Madrid wanted? ­ And wasn't it also the case the Real Madrid was­ dead set against him going to Chelsea because of their­ attitude and the fact the there were Chelsea shirts­ being sold with Robinho's name imprinted on them? ­ That coupled with the fact that there was no way he was­ staying at REal MAdrid. I myself would have use all my­ energies to leave as well. Madrid have a wonderful long­ list of accomplishments but I am not convinced that it­ is all that is cracked up to be right now. He certainly­ wasn't being given his proper playing time there. ­ Robinho is among the best players... making him­ 'balance-weight' for a transfer involving­ another player (even if it was Christiano Ronaldo) to­ me is crazy! I would have requested to leave­ immediately. And so what if he is indeed following the­ money? These players don't play forever you know. ­ Maximizing ones income while constantly playing for a­ decent club which is certainly improving if not among­ the elite is not a bad deal now; is it?

    From JohnS, on Tue 23 Sep 12:45PM

  12. JonathanB where have you been for the last 5 years­ ?????....we don't play in Moss Side anymore!!

    From Chris W, on Tue 23 Sep 12:32PM

  13. Yes Mr Jonnyroastbeef,understood!But'where were­ Chelsea before Mr.Oil Rich Abramovich came along with­ his millions+? You have to understand in this day and­ age of the 'cash cow' that any team at any­ given time could benefit and it just so happens that­ -for a change-a team like Man City have been hit with­ the lucky stick and good luck to them.
    It has to be­ good for the game that a team without as many honours­ has been fortunate.
    Are we seeing the dawn of a new­ era? I wonder! Would you be a Chelsea fan by­ chance:-)
    Man U Fan!

    From val_e46, on Tue 23 Sep 12:24PM

  14. My gutt feeling here is that he may scope player of the­ year!

    From LEE C, on Tue 23 Sep 11:27AM

  15. ROBIN-City I"ll say.. It's the dawn of a NEW­ ERA

    From Segun, on Tue 23 Sep 11:14AM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Again - the ONLY reason he went to Middle Eastlands is­ for the folding £££££££. Lots and lots of it. And­ don't forget it was probably his agent (who took a­ monster cut of the transfer fee by the way) who said­ you have to go to City. I bet Robinho had never even­ heard of them before the transfer deadline

    Why on­ earth would you choose Man City over Chelsea or any­ other top European side, of which there are plenty who­ would have him.....I'm sorry but Man City­ aren't in that bracket and they won't be for a­ long time. It's the equivalent of, for example,­ Essien deciding he wants to go and play in Italy then­ at the 11th hour choosing Lecce over, say AC Milan??­ Strange decision for a top player who obviously wants­ to win trophys and I presume play in the worlds­ greatest club competition?

    I'm not surprised he­ was apprehensive - a few days before he signed, he was­ saying how Chelsea was the only thing he was thinking­ about.

    This move benefited his agent more than him -­ he's a mug.

    From jonnyroastbeef, on Tue 23 Sep 11:04AM

  17. haha to those so called 'experts' of the game­ saying robinho was damn to go to city. the 'big­ clubs' wont stay big forever. see how much fan he­ is having and how nice he and man city are good to­ watch now.

    From Absalom, on Tue 23 Sep 11:03AM

  18. wait til he sees city's heartland - moss side.

    From Jonathan B, on Tue 23 Sep 10:47AM

  19. yeah robinho is ick man cant you feel it

    From Kudzai, on Tue 23 Sep 10:31AM

  20. yeah robinho is ick man cant you feel it

    From Kudzai, on Tue 23 Sep 10:26AM
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