Now 36, Robinho is living in Turkey, near Istanbul Başakşehir. Closer to the end of his career than the beginning, the Brazilian striker has lent himself to the game of confidences on the different eras of a career which saw him play in Santos, Real Madrid, Manchester City, AC Milan, Guangzhou, Atletico Mineiro, Sivasspor and therefore Başakşehir. Eighteen years with professionals punctuated by several anecdotes. In comments reported by Marca, Robinho shared the most memorable moments.
Starting with his arrival at Real Madrid in 2005. “When Real Madrid arrived to recruit me, I saw that there was a large group of Brazilians and the coach was Vanderlei Luxemburgo. Why should I go to Barcelona? My beginnings were great. I arrived in Madrid the day before the match (against Cadiz on August 28, 2005), I was anxious to play. But it was perfect. When I got my first ball, I kicked an opponent and started dribbling “, he said, before speaking of the jealousy of his Spanish teammates.
Robinho attended a jiu-jitsu fight between Ibra and Gattuso
“Beckham has always been with the Brazilians. He was part of our group. In fact, the Spanish were jealous because he spoke more Portuguese than Spanish, so he spent more time with us “. Three years with the Merengues punctuated by a more than honorable record of 35 goals and 27 assists. But still not enough to convince Casa Blanca to retain the man who was considered at the time to be the greatest hope in the world. The sequel was a departure from Manchester City. But originally it was not in the North West of England that Robinho should bounce back.
“My goal was to go to Chelsea. Scolari told me that I would make a difference in his team. But Real Madrid did not get on well with the Blues. They didn’t like Chelsea selling jerseys to my name until the deal was reached. “ In the absence of agreement between Blues and Merengues, it was therefore among the Citizens that the Brazilian landed in 2008. Manchester, a city that Robinho appreciated … for its nightclubs. “I liked Manchester, the club, the restaurants … but I don’t forget the nightclubs. I liked to be entertained, but the English went out more than the Brazilians! Joe Hart went out all the time. The same goes for Micah Richards and Shaun Wright-Phillips. But when we Brazilians went out, we were always caught. “
After City, and a yearlong loan to Santos in 2010, the native of São Vicente discovered Italy and AC Milan. A new transfer he owes to a certain Zlatan Ibrahimovic. “Zlatan often said that he had convinced Milan to take me. “You are here thanks to me,” he said to me. Is he arrogant? Yes, but in a good sense of the word. He has confidence in his talent. To me, he’s everything an attacker should be: a showman and a winner “, he said, before telling an anecdote about Ibra during training. “One day in training, he challenged Gattuso to a jiu-jitsu fight. Before your eyes, you had a fierce defender who was doing martial arts against Zlatan, who is black belt. Who won ? Zlatan always wins. “
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