Robinho makes Man City move gaffe

Robinho's career at Manchester City has not got off to the smoothest start following his switch from Real Madrid.

The Brazilian stunned football by making a £32.5m move to Eastlands and not, as expected, to Londoners Chelsea.

However, it appeared the 24-year-old's deadline day move had still to sink in when he said: "On the last day, Chelsea made a great proposal and I accepted."

To this a reporter replied: "You mean Manchester, right?". "Yeah, Manchester, sorry!" answered Robinho.

Robinho's transfer overshadowed news of the other big-money deal on Monday, that of Dimitar Berbatov's £31m switch from Tottenham to rivals Manchester United.

However, it was later reported that the deal - funded by new City owners Abu Dhabi United Group - was concluded without Robinho, 24, taking a medical or even fully understanding the personal terms of his contract.

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Still, the Brazilian could barely hide his relief at having forced a move away from Real, even though only 24 hours previous to the move he spoke openly of his "desperation" to join Chelsea.

And he said he hoped his reputation will not be tarnished by the manner in which he left La Liga champions.

"Unfortunately this kind of thing happens," he said. "Of course I don't want to fight and I don't like to be criticised in the press, with people saying I'm not a professional and that I don't follow what my contract says.

"I want to do what is written in my contract until it lasts! I don't want to be criticised and have my image damaged. Unfortunately this thing happened twice (with me), so be it!"

Real president Ramon Calderon had insisted he had no choice but to let Robinho leave the club, saying: "When he talked about his situation he cried and asked to leave Spain."

But Robinho hit back, saying: "I didn't cry. I just told him that I would like to leave. Since he was desperate because he didn't hire anyone, he pretended not to listen me.

"Look, I accept Pele's criticism. He is the king of football. But, maybe, if he were in my shoes, he would have done the same thing"
Robinho

"At the end, he made things even worse for me to leave, but I didn't cry. I only told him the truth, that was, if the club didn't want me to stay there, then I didn't want to stay at Real either. I wanted him to let me go, through the front door, without any fight."

Pele, the most famous Brazilian footballer, criticised Robinho's decision to join City, but the 24-year-old said defended his decision.

"Look, I accept Pele's criticism. He is the king of football. But, maybe, if he were in my shoes, he would have done the same thing," added Robinho.

"I think that only someone who suffered as I suffered in Real Madrid may have something to say on this. People from outside, judging (this situation) is easy."

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