Robinho’s famous move to Manchester City was full of confusion for one significant person: Robinho himself.
In the wake of City’s takeover in 2008, Robinho bid farewell to Real Madrid in what was meant to be a game-changing transfer.
At that point, City were competing with the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United, setting the stage for the rivalry we all know today.
Eager to mark their new era, the owners made it a priority to secure a high-profile signing, and they zoned in on Brazil superstar Robinho.
Out of the blue, City broke the British transfer record to sign Robinho for £32.5million on Deadline Day in September 2008.
Little did they know that Robinho wouldn’t even recognise his new boss, Mark Hughes, when they first met.
There have always been rumours that Robinho actually thought he was signing for Manchester United – and Hughes suspects they were true.
Hughes recounted: “The first day of the takeover being complete came as a surprise to me because I was out playing golf!
“I was playing with some of the staff because it was a day off, but I was getting these phone calls from Gary Cook, who was the CEO at the time.
“He said that the takeover was happening and that they wanted a marquee signing to mark the new ownership of the club.
“They just asked me, ‘Who do you want?’ They had a load of bids out for pretty much every top player in the world.
“They had just put all of these bids out to see if anyone would actually come back, but people forget that at that time, Man City were a mid-table Premier League club – mid-table to bottom if we’re honest.
“There weren’t that many takers because players were thinking, ‘Man City, who?’
“They had all these bids out and nothing was happening, then all of a sudden they had a little nibble from Robinho and Real Madrid.
“We had to try to make it happen, and I knew the Real Madrid coach at the time, Bernd Schuster, so I was on the phone to him asking if there was any chance of letting Robinho speak to us.
“It was a crazy day; there were bids going out for Lionel Messi and all sorts! We finally managed to get Robinho over the line, which was a hell of a statement, and the rest is history.
“There’s probably a grain of truth in the rumour that Robinho thought he was actually signing for Manchester United.
“He certainly didn’t recognise me when he turned up; he was probably expecting to see Sir Alex Ferguson at the airport! He was probably a bit disappointed, to say the least.”
Incredibly, Robinho’s mix-up didn’t stop there.
City beat Chelsea to the winger’s signature in a hotly-contested race which saw Blues chief executive, Peter Kenyon, confidently claim the deal was all but done.
So high was Robinho’s anticipation of joining Chelsea, that upon sealing the move to City, he mistakenly declared: “On the last day, Chelsea made a great proposal and I accepted.”
A reporter, catching the slip, gently corrected him: “You mean Manchester City, right?”
“Yeah, Manchester, sorry!” Robinho quickly replied, clearly still processing the whirlwind of events.
Robinho was ultimately a disappointment at City, scoring 14 goals in 41 league matches.
In his second season, he found himself relegated down the pecking order.
Injury sidelined him for three months, leaving him with just 12 appearances in total.
During this time he managed to score only one goal against lower-league side Scunthorpe United in the FA Cup.
In search of a fresh start, Robinho sought an exit during the January transfer window, returning to his beloved Santos in January 2010.