Robinho resolved to stay for City revolution

MANCHESTER DERBY:IT ALL comes back to a variation of the old Mrs Merton question. So, Robson de Souza, what was it that first attracted you to the multi-billionaires Manchester City? Or to use the phrase that has been cruelly bandied about in the Brazilian media, what could it be that possessed you to join the club they call "the wrong Manchester"? He is the first genuine superstar of Manchester City's Abu Dhabi revolution.

But not everyone is buying into the argument, as put forward by City's executive chairman Garry Cook, that tomorrow's Mancunian derby will feature the biggest club in the world - and Manchester United. Pele has questioned whether Robinho "needs counselling". Marcelo Teixeira, the president of Santos, has talked of "one of the most disgraceful episodes in Brazilian football".

And yet there is something compelling when Robinho looks you in the eye and tells you he isn't bothered because, quite frankly, this is the happiest he has ever been as a professional footballer. "What people have to realise is I want to be here for many, many years to come," he says. It is the kind of statement that could be accompanied by a fist on the table. Instead, Robinho is smiling, as he has done so many times since his €38.8 million signing from Real Madrid.

"Some people seem to think I'm here only for the money but that's not true at all. If I only wanted money, I would have gone somewhere else. I had offers from Saudi Arabia and Japan and I could have earned much more over there."

Fair enough. Besides, who really cares what Robinho earns when he is capable of such rare moments of genuine sporting beauty as City's second goal against Arsenal last weekend? It was his eighth in 11 league games and ninth in total, a scoring burst that makes him confident enough to say his target is 30 for the season but that "anything is possible" so he won't rule out emulating Cristiano Ronaldo's total of 42 last season. Later, he admits day-dreaming about scoring the winner when Manchester's step-over kings line up against each other tomorrow. "I imagine it would be the same feeling as scoring for Brazil against Argentina."

This is his first major interview since moving to England and true to form, the most expensive footballer in British transfer history arrives in a chauffeur-driven Bentley. The diamond-encrusted watch on his wrist is presumably not from H Samuel and, in a blow to Stagecoach users across the north-west, it transpires he has not been getting around Manchester on the bus, as had been reported. "I used the bus when I was growing up in Brazil," he smiles. "I don't want to diminish anyone who travels on the bus but I haven't done that for a long time."

Robinho is braying with laughter as he tries to comprehend where the story originated. And again when he reveals, no, it is not true he has been watching Coronation Street to improve his English. "Very funny," he says. "Hahahahaha."

There is something more important to clear up. Part of the shock value when Robinho signed for City was generated by the way he was stolen from under Chelsea's nose. This is his chance to put the record straight. "It was Chelsea's own fault," he says. "Real Madrid did not want me to go to Chelsea but I have to say they (Chelsea) did not help themselves either."

He is referring to the decision to mock up a picture of him - in full Chelsea kit - on the club's website before a fee had even been agreed. "Everything would probably have been okay but they put that picture of me on the website and I know Madrid were very upset about that. Plus Chelsea are in the Champions League and, with me, would have been even stronger, so maybe that put off Madrid, too."

On the last day of the transfer window, the newly-enriched City made him an offer "that was very good for myself and for my family, so I accepted".

Luiz Felipe Scolari is a "close personal friend" but Robinho is puzzled by the rumours he could yet end up at Stamford Bridge. "The only thing on my mind is to stay in Manchester for many years. Next year we will try our best to reach the Champions League. It's not in my mind to leave the club at all. When I go on the pitch I carry the club's shirt (he puts his hand on his heart). My aim is to give a lot of happiness to the supporters and the directors and carry on for many years."

At the last count, around 15,000 shirts had been emblazoned with his name in the club shop. "We've got Robinho," the City fans will chorus proudly at Eastlands tomorrow. "In Spain, they go to the stadium and treat it like going to the theatre," he volunteers. "In England, they go to support their team, to scream and shout, and do everything they can. I love that." Is he aware, however, how "the wrong Manchester" are viewed back in Brazil? "Of course. It's not nice to hear someone like Pele being critical. But I can take it. When you leave Real Madrid it's normal to get criticism. I have played for the national team many times so I am used to good things, and bad things, being said about me."

He has been through worse. Much worse. Four years ago, as a 20-year-old Santos player, his mother, Marina, was preparing a barbecue with friends in Praia Grande, 45 miles from Sao Paulo, when two gunmen burst in and locked everyone in a bathroom before bundling her into the boot of a car. "I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Every single day was a nightmare. When your mother has been kidnapped, every day is as bad as the next one." A teary Robinho issued a television appeal but the kidnappers responded by sending him a videotape of his mother in which they could be seen cutting off her hair. "I don't know how people can do these things," says Robinho. "They have evil in their hearts."

After 41 days Marina, then 43, was released after Robinho paid a ransom of €58,225. The kidnappers were subsequently arrested. "But in Brazil the law is there is no law," says Robinho. "It's lawless - so I don't know what happened to them and whether they are in jail."

His father, Gilvan, a former sewer worker, has joined him along with Marina, his partner, Viviane, and his 11-month-old boy, Robson junior - the inspiration behind his thumb-sucking goal celebration. They spend their time, says Robinho, "going to the cinema, the theatre, normal things". He has become a regular at the Pau Brasil restaurant in Manchester's Northern District, along with City's other Brazilians, Elano and Jo. Mostly, however, he is happy to "stay at home teaching my son how to play football".

He is glad to be out of Madrid. "It is a beautiful city and my family loved living there but things were not as good for me as they are here. The directors didn't behave properly and I didn't feel as valued as I do here." Pressed further, he says: "Everyone knows they have a lot of excellent players, but they treated me like I was average."

Madrid had let it be known they wanted to sacrifice him in a player-plus-cash exchange for Cristiano Ronaldo. When Robinho dug in his heels, the Madrid president, Ramon Calderon, said he was guilty of "human indolence". Robinho remains aggrieved. "I know my potential as a footballer . . . I don't feel I should be talked about as currency for someone else. I couldn't accept it because it made me feel under-valued. Once a player finds out he is the bait in a part-exchange . . . it's not the way to treat people."

He believes Ronaldo should win the Ballon D'Or "because of everything he did last season". But City, he says, can learn from Madrid's obsession with star footballers. "To improve, you need to buy the right players - not just fashionable names. You don't have to buy four or five players for one position just because they have a famous name."

This is a more considered Robinho than the one-time party animal who allegedly once turned up drunk for a Madrid training session. He has been the perfect pro at City, a popular member of the dressingroom and a fine ambassador for the Abu Dhabi United Group. "The project is very ambitious," he says. "People are saying Manchester City are a small club. But the same people will be talking about what a big club we are in two or three years."

Bigger, as Cook predicts, than Manchester United? "Anything can happen. City might be classed as a small club today but in two or three years, who knows? I remember Chelsea - three or four years ago they were considered a small club but now they are a big club. So anything is possible."

If City do achieve worldwide domination, Robinho wants to be a part of it.

Guardian Service