EPL, Premiership, English Premier League

Manchester City have signed Brazilian Robinho for a record €32.5 million. The former Real Madrid player has been chased by Chelsea and it was strongly believed that they would obtain him. However, City obtained the 24 year old in a late bid. The contract will last 4 years; manager Mark Hughes described the signing:

“I am absolutely delighted to get the opportunity to work with such an incredible talent like Robinho. This is a real statement of intent as to the ambitions of this club. I have said that in order to compete with the best teams in the Premier League we have to be in the market for players of this calibre, and Robinho is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world. I am looking forward to introducing him to the rest of the squad, and to the City fans at the earliest opportunity.”

“It’s been one hell of a day. It’s a huge statement of intent. A lot of credit has got to go to Dr Thaksin [Shinawatra, club owner] for being able to bring the Abu Dhabi company to the table and this huge investment that is going to go forward. They wanted to present something to the people of Manchester and they have been able to do that. It’s a fantastic signing for us. If we’re going to get to the places we want to get to we are going to have to compete against outstanding teams. We have to attract world-class players and that is what we have done. He is an exceptional talent and opposition teams are going to fear him.”

Robinho was unhappy at Real Madrid and has stated his desire to leave the Bernabeu multiple times especially after Madrid considered selling Robinho to obtain Ronaldo. Real Madrid awkwardly described the deal: “We have sold Robinho for reasons of a human nature and for sporting reasons. The fact that he has accepted an offer from Manchester City says that he is not going for sporting reasons. It’s an important sum of money. It’s not the objective of Real Madrid to sell players, neither do we need the money, but for reasons of human and sporting nature, it has been decided this is for the best. It’s a decision agreed by all the coaching staff, who understand it is best for the player and for the club” said Real President Ramon Calderon. “[Real Manager Bernd] Schuster thought until yesterday that he could recover the player, but that has not been the case. Every time I have spoken with him he was very sad, crying and asking to leave Spain. Real Madrid are more important than any one player. He’s a great kid, but badly advised.”

Robinho will most likely make his first appearance against Chelsea September 13th. Chelsea was also pursuing Robinho and released a statement describing why they did not secure him, “We were unable to agree terms with the club [Real] as we were not going to pay the 40 million euro asking price.”

View Robinho yearns for Chelsea transfer for more information on Robinho’s record, statistics and recent news.