Robinho

Robson de Souza (born 25 January 1984 in São Vicente, São Paulo), commonly known as Robinho, is a Brazilian footballer, who currently plays for Manchester City and the Brazilian national team.Robinho was personally picked by Pelé as his heir apparent at only 15 years of age and went on to lead Santos to its first Campeonato Brasileiro title since Pelé himself played for the same legendary Brazilian club. Since then he won another title with Santos, two more with Real Madrid, one Copa América title with Brazil and two Confederations Cup, as well with Brazil. In 2009, Robinho married Vivian Guglielmetti.Robinho is widely known for his dribbling skills and step overs.


On 1 September 2008, the final day of the Premier League summer transfer window, Robinho completed a €42.5 million (£32.5m) move to Manchester City, with wages in the region of £160,000 per week. This occurred on the same day the club was bought out by the Arab investment company Abu Dhabi United Group.

He had previously been linked with a transfer to Chelsea, and he had emphasised his desire to play for the London club up to the eve of the transfer. On 27 August, Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon said that the club were "confident" that the transaction would go through, and Madrid had also given their consent for the player to leave.

In an interview with The Guardian, Robinho stated that City being a big club and the presence of 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, in a 3–1 home defeat to Chelsea. On 26 October, he scored his first Premier League hat-trick against Stoke City, and he scored his first European goal for 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 has his own song from the City fans, which is simply "We've got Robinho", which they sang on the night they signed him and continue to sing on match days. Robinho finished the season as City's top goal scorer with 14 and the 4th top scorer in the league.