Robinho

He may still be young of age but Robinho is a well merited player and an integral part of the Brazilian national team. He has a number of medals in his cabinet including the 2002 and 2004 Campeonato Brasileiro, 2005 and 2009 Confederation Cup, the 2006 World Cup, 2007 Copa America, 2006-07 and 2007-08 La Liga and the 2008 Supercopa de España. Robinho also was the 2007 Copa America top goalscorer with 6 goals and won the Bola de Ouro in 2004.

At the age of seventeen, Robinho signed his first professional contract with Santos in Brazil. He made 24 appearances in his debut season and scored 9 goals as Santos won the 2002 Campeonato Brasileiro. He was on the losing side in 2003 final of the Copa Libertadores when Santos lost to Boca Juniors. Robinhos form had brought him to the attention of many European clubs but the club would not let him go for any fee. However, his form suffered in the 2004-05 season after his mother was kidnapped by gunmen at her home on November 6, but she was released unharmed six weeks later after a ransom was paid. Robinho managed four goals in eight league games, and his value continued to increase and at the end of the year, Santos were finding it increasingly difficult to hold on to their star player.

In July 2005 Spanish giants Real Madrid signed Robinho by for €24 million (60% of his contract buyout clause). In Madrid he wore the number 10 shirt and scored 14 goals in 37 games in his first season. At the start of the 2006-07 campaign, Robinho fell out of favour with new manager Fabio Capello and he spent much of the first few months of the season on the bench. Only after the winter break did he find himself in the starting eleven. He took part in Madrid's season finale against Mallorca on 18 June 2007, which they won 3-1 and in the process claimed their thirtieth league title, which was also the third of Robinho's career. The following season Robinho contributed eleven goals and fourteen assists for Madrid before signing for Manchester City on September 1st 2008.

The transfer medley surrounding Robinho during the summer of 2008 was both chaotic and interesting. Real intially wanted to include the player in a swap deal with Manchester United to lure Christiano Ronaldo to Madrid. Robinho (rightfully) felt frustrated and unsettled by this deal and when Chelsea came in for the player he demanded a move to the London club. Real was unwilling to let such a gifted player go to a Champions League rival with no replacement in line and whit Chelsea reluctant to pay the full price and Real locked in a tug of war with Manchester United, it was Manchester City who came in at the last minute to capture the player paying a British record £32.5 million on transfer deadline day. The wages are expected to be in the region of £160 000 per week as the new owners at City, the Abu Dhabi United Group, wanted to start building dream team from scratch.

Robinho seemed uncertain with the outcome of the dealings and at one point addressed the media as if he had in fact joined Chelsea and not the Blues from Manchester. Still he made no mistake in his debut game, scoring a curled free-kick against Chelsea at City of Manchester Stadium. He was an instant hit in the Premier League, scoring 11 goals in his first 4 months with Manchester City. He was even outshadowing the prancing Pony down the road with his play and trickery and scored three goals during the 2008 Christmas period. An injury and a dire start to the cold new year brough him firmly back to the ground, and Robinho struggled to find the net. He didn't score again until April 19th and by then City had been narrowly beaten by Hamburg SV in the UEFA-cup quarter finals. In the end he managed 15 goals for City in his debut season, which was enough to make him top scorer at the club. During the summer of 2009 Robinho was a regular in the Brazilian team that won the Confederations cup in South Africa, providing one of the assists in the final against USA.

Playing Record:

Season:	Club:	LEA	LEG	FCA	FCG	LCA	LCG	ECA	ECG	TOA	TOG
2002-2005	Santos (BRA)	104	44	0	0	0	0	0	0	104	44
2005-2008	Real Madrid (SPA)	101	25	0	0	0	0	21	5	122	30
2008-2009	Manchester City	31	14	0	0	0	0	10	1	41	15
Total:		236	83	0	0	0	0	31	6	267	89

LA = League Attendances. LG = League Goals.
FCA = FA Cup Attendances. FCG = FA Cup Goals.
LCA = League Cup Attendances. LCG = League Cup Goals.
ECA = European Cup Attendances. ECG = European Cup Goals.
TOA = Total Attendances. TOG = Total Goals