Robinho adds to Mancini's growing list of troubles at Manchester City

Posted Saturday, February 20, 2010 by theguardian.com

Robinho adds to Mancini's growing list of troubles at Manchester City
Robinho, on loan to Brazilian club Santos, says he intends to remain there.

Robinho, the most expensive player in the history of the Premier League, has informed Manchester City that he has no intention of returning to the club at the end of his loan spell with Santos.

The man who was supposed to symbolise City's new ambitions when signed from Real Madrid for £32.5m, is so determined to sever his ties with Manchester he has already arranged for his belongings to be shipped to South America.

He has also put his UK-registered Lamborghini up for sale and informed his landlord that he will not be returning to the house he rented last summer. The Brazilian strategically chose to rent, rather than buy, when he moved out of his first house after a neighbourly dispute about the noise at which he was playing music.

Robinho joined Santos on a six-month loan in January but Roberto Mancini has steadfastly maintained that the 26-year-old remains a part of the club's future and will return for the start of next season. Robinho, however, has other ideas, telling his representatives that he just wants to write off his time at Eastlands as a bad period in his career. His feelings were laid bare in an interview this week when he reflected on moving from Madrid to Manchester that "maybe if I had gone to another club it would have been better for me".

After an encouraging start to life in English football as City's manager, Mancini now appears to be learning the hard way that he has inherited a dressing room containing some difficult and occasionally trying characters, and his Friday press conference was dominated by questions about three other players who, for differing reasons, have been causing him problems.

First Mancini expressed frustration that Carlos Tevez would not be back for Sunday's game against Liverpool because he was still in Argentina on compassionate leave following the premature birth of his second daughter last weekend. Mancini has not spoken to him since Wednesday but his information is that the baby's condition has improved and he has urged the striker to be back for the FA Cup fifth-round replay at Stoke City on Tuesday.

"Carlos is a serious problem. I told him: 'Come quickly because we have important games,' and he said: 'When I solve my problem I will come.' We have important games and I think he has solved this problem. I think the baby is OK and I hope Carlos can come back very quickly because we need him.

"He told me he wants to stay with his family. He won't be here on Sunday and I don't know when we will see him. I hope Carlos comes back on Monday for the Stoke game and will also be here for the Chelsea game [next weekend]. This is a big problem because we're without Carlos for a long time."

Mancini's mood was not eased by Patrick Vieira's three-match ban for kicking Stoke's Glenn Whelan during the 1-1 draw at the Britannia Stadium on Tuesday and he may fine the former Arsenal captain. "I need to speak to him because we have now lost an important player and Patrick made a big mistake. It's impossible to think you can do these things against other players [and not be punished]. It's not right for him and not right for us."

The manager also summoned Craig Bellamy to his office on Wednesday because he was concerned about his fitness regime. The meeting was depicted in one newspaper as a serious row, culminating in Mancini ordering the attacker home and telling him not to return for the rest of the season, but the club's version of events is nothing like as explosive and Bellamy could face Liverpool. "He wanted one mode, I wanted another," Mancini said. "These things are normal and it was resolved. I read that I shouted at him, but no."

Meanwhile Javier Mascherano, the Liverpool midfielder who has been linked with a move to City in the past, has stoked up the tensions before tomorrowSunday's meeting by insisting the history of Liverpool remains a bigger draw to some players than the money on offer at Eastlands.

"I will say one thing: you can buy players but you cannot buy history," he said. "I don't want to play for Manchester City. Yes, they have money and they are building a good team but I am still proud to play for Liverpool."