Robinhos back..

[Lee_R]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... shoes.html

and he looks kinda... happy!? :-S

[Kladze]

The 26-year-old now promises to knuckle down and respect the club

Seeing will be believing ............

[Adam Johnson's Big Toe]

He doesn't look like the Fatty when he left

[saulman]

I would love for this to work out for both sides.

I think with defenders who can defend and the creativity we now have surrounding him, Robinho could play a massive part this season.

[dikdik]

Quality is permanent. Form temporary.

[MARKMAKAVELI]

He is always smiling an happy. Good luck to him.

[Guy Debord]

The Guardian...

Manchester City have entered into negotiations with two unnamed clubs about a £20m-plus deal for Robinho, with Roberto Mancini still keen to wash his hands of Britain's most expensive footballer and no sign of a thaw in relations between player and manager.

After spending the past six months on loan at Santos, Robinho flew back into England overnight and was due to take part in his first training session with the rest of Mancini's squad this afternoon.

His position has not changed, namely that he wants to leave City and is effectively in Manchester against his will, and City's stance also remains the same, willing to sell him to any club who meet their asking price.

City are refusing to entertain the idea of another loan for a player who cost them £32.5m when signed from Real Madrid on the first days of the Abu Dhabi United Group's ownership almost two years ago. Instead they want to recoup a sizeable amount of Robinho's transfer fee, something they consider realistic given his impressive performances in the World Cup.

They have now received what is being described behind the scenes at Eastlands as "firm interest", with a strong possibility of a deal happening before the end of the transfer window. Besiktas and Schalke have been linked with Robinho this summer but the identities of the clubs involved have not been released.

The alternative is that Robinho has little choice but to try to resurrect his City career – at least until the market reopens in January – and the 26-year-old has been included in the squad submitted to Uefa for the two-legged Europa League qualifying tie against Timisoara of Romania. That has been seen in many quarters as Mancini offering the player an olive branch but the Italian simply felt it would be churlish to leave out the club's record signing when there remains a possibility he may yet play a part in the coming season. Informed sources say nothing too much should be read into it.


Mancini remains highly sceptical of Robinho's intentions and has been planning for the season without him, with a deal described as "getting closer" for Mario Balotelli, the 19-year-old Italy international. After several months of wrangling over a fee, City wanting to pay £25m and Internazionale valuing him at £30m, the clubs are thought to have reached a compromise and are in the final stages of concluding the transfer.

The £26m package for Aston Villa's James Milner, with Stephen Ireland included in the deal, is also thought to be imminent despite the complexities delaying a completion today , as had originally been anticipated.

The exodus of fringe players from Eastlands has continued with Felipe Caicedo, the 21-year-old Ecuadorian, heading to West Ham on a season-long loan.

City are willing to allow Craig Bellamy to leave on loan if a permanent deal cannot be agreed and they are anticipating a number of inquiries over the coming days now it has been confirmed, as revealed by the Guardian last month, that they wanted to sell the Wales international captain. Celtic have already made contact and other clubs are expected to follow, with Bellamy's threat that he may quit football because he is "disheartened and "dejected" not being taken seriously within the game.

[razor400]

Says it all really.

[Moonchesteri]

Says it all really.

Haha good spot.

I'd like to see Robbie being happy at City as he's really exciting to watch - but it will end in tears I'm afraid if he stays.

[razor400]

Says it all really.

Haha good spot.

I'd like to see Robbie being happy at City as he's really exciting to watch - but it will end in tears I'm afraid if he stays.

Yep, probably his.

[Dubciteh]

Caiecedo to west ham??thats come out of nowhere and is great move for him!

[Fish111]

Personally don't want to see the little shit in a City shirt ever again. Sell him to Besiktas.

[Chinners]

Says it all really.

This spot sir, should gain you legend status imo.

[irblinx]

Caiecedo to west ham??thats come out of nowhere and is great move for him!

Walmai was on here talking about it over a week ago

[Blue in the face]

I'd love to see him get his head down and work hard to force his way back into the team. He's a great asset to have when he really tries.

Surely he sees how strong a squad we have now. What kind of short, skinny, stroppy Brazillian wouldn't want to be part of our team?

[Blue2]

Quality is permanent. Form temporary.

once a twat, always a twat.

[the_georgian_genius]

I've had a crap day but that news has cheered me up.

Welcome back fella!

[Dubaimancityfan]

I'm willing to give Robbie another chance. I'm in the U.S. on hols and saw him play against them on Tuesday and he was superb.
If he can show the same attitude with City and with all the new talent that we now have, then we are in for an exciting, silverware winning season.
BTW, didn't see it anywhere else, who are the other 24 in our Europe League squad and is it final ?

[Dameerto]

I'm willing to give Robbie another chance. I'm in the U.S. on hols and saw him play against them on Tuesday and he was superb.
If he can show the same attitude with City and with all the new talent that we now have, then we are in for an exciting, silverware winning season.
BTW, didn't see it anywhere else, who are the other 24 in our Europe League squad and is it final ?

I think we have some tinker-time left as far as the squad for this round goes - we have to submit a new squad for the group stages assuming we make it through this double-header. You can see the squad on UEFA's site here: http://en.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/clu ... index.html

[Beefymcfc]

May I be the first to say it.......................

[center]'We've Got Robinho' [/center]

;-)