robinho

Manchester City

Robinho playing for Manchester City in 2009

On 1 September 2008, the final day of the Premier League summer transfer window, Robinho completed a €42,500,000 (£32,500,000) move to Manchester City, on a four-year deal. This occurred on the same day the club was bought out by the Arab investment company Abu Dhabi United Group.^[12][13]
He had previously been linked with a transfer to Chelsea,^[14] and he had emphasised his desire to play for the London club up to the eve of the transfer.^[15] On 27 August, Chelsea Chief Executive Peter Kenyon said that the club were "confident" that the transaction would go through,^[16] and Madrid had also given their consent for the player to leave.^[16] Robinho's desire to move to Chelsea was such that upon signing for Man City he accidentally stated "On the last day, Chelsea made a great proposal and I accepted." To this a reporter replied: "You mean Manchester, right?". "Yeah, Manchester, sorry!" answered Robinho.^[17]
In an interview with The Guardian, Robinho stated that Manchester City being a big club and the presence of Brazilian friends Jô and Elano were incentives for him to join the team. He made his team debut and scored his very first Premier League goal on 13 September 2008, ironically in a 3–1 home defeat to Chelsea.^[18] On 26 October, he scored his first Premier League hat-trick against Stoke City,^[19] and he scored his first European goal for Manchester City in a 3–2 UEFA Cup group stage win over Twente on 6 November. He was given the captain's armband for the match against Hull City, due to Richard Dunne's suspension, which ended in a 2–2 draw.
On 19 April, he scored his 13th league goal for Manchester City in the 2–1 win away at Everton on 25 April, Manchester City's first away win since 31 August 2008. The following week, he scored his third consecutive goal in three games, against Blackburn Rovers, to help Manchester City to a 3–1 win. Robinho finished the season as Manchester City's top goal scorer with 14 and the fourth top scorer in the league.
His second season at Manchester City did not go as well. He missed three months of the season due to injury and only played 12 games in total (10 in the Premier League), and scored one goal (against lower league club Scunthorpe United in the FA Cup). Due to this, he fell down the pecking order and sought a move away from the club in the January transfer window