He might be acting like a stroppy teenager but Brazilian international Robinho has been left with no choice following the end of his loan spell at Santos and is to return to Manchester City FC.
The 26-year-old striker is currently on international duty in North America, however, whether he likes it or not the club who hold his registration, MCFC has told him to be in Manchester 48-hours after the USA v Brazil friendly this Tuesday.
City hope Robinho can find a club prepared to meet their £25m price. But while Benfica and Besiktas have both registered an interest in the player, neither has been able to come up with the cash. In addition, Robbie was hoping to stay at Santos for an extended loan period but financial restrictions with his home-town club has scuppered any chance of that.
New Premier League rules introduced for the new season state no club can have more than a 25-man squad and named players must be passed to the Premier League HQ at the end of the summer transfer window (31 Aug). When the transfer window opens again in January respective clubs must submit their revised 25-man squad by February 1st.
However, the same 25-man squad ruling does not cover domestic or European cups; therefore, if he remains at Eastlands Róbson de Souza, who is expected to be left out of the initial Premier League squad may have to settle for the occasional cup appearance.
A City insider said…
‘It’s crazy to think that the most expensive player in British football might be left out of our Premier League squad, but Robinho will have to show that he is worthy of his place. He has been informed he won’t be allowed to go out on loan again and we are hopeful a buyer will materialise.’
‘While the club is willing to take a loss on what was paid to Real Madrid, there is a determination to recoup a significant amount of the fee.’
Robinho’s contract has another two years left to run and reportedly earning a whopping £160,000 a week. Not bad for someone who’s going to sit on his backside doing jack for the next six months, at least?
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