Robinho: The most remarkable signing

In its almost incongruous nature, it immediately evokes West Ham’s twin signings of Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez two summers ago. The difference is there is much less ambiguity over the nature of the deal. Robinho is a Manchester City player, with no contractual ambiguities. City are in debt to no one, save their Arabic owners.

And it is astonishing.

Earlier in the summer, Man City were strongly linked with Ronaldinho. That, of course, would have been something extraordinary: the man who performed such astonishing deeds at Barcelona, and was World Footballer of the Year in 2004 and 2005.

But the signing of Robinho should excite Man City fans considerably more. Ronaldinho was the best player in the world. Yet, for two years, his output has palpably diminished. It has been a painful sight: a superstar suffering from problems of weight and seemingly motivation, reduced to an outcast at a club he took to such brilliant heights. Hence, there would have been serious worries had Ronaldinho joined Man City, a fear he was using the club as an extended retirement home.

Robinho is something else altogether. At 24, no one need worry that he is in terminal decline or merely money-grabbing. He was wanted at Real Madrid; but he has become unhappy – he was mooted as a makeweight in a deal for Cristiano Ronaldo, and was barred from playing in the Olymipics. Subsequently, he was desperate to leave – even to a club whose presence in the Uefa Cup first round owes to remarkable good fortune.

Simply put, he is a brilliant player. He possesses pace, finishing ability and audacious skill sufficient to become a regular in the Brazil side. A fee of £32.5million sounds extortionate and is certainly steep, but, in light of the fee for Dimitar Berbatov, seems almost reasonable.

As ever with such a high-profile transfer, questions remain. Will Robinho improve on his disappointing Real Madrid strike-rate, which amounted to only a goal every four games? Where, exactly, will he play? Will he be happy at a club for whom fourth would represent nirvana? And will he feel motivated when Chelsea was the club in his sights?

Reality has a habit of biting hard. It is a sobering thought that, when there was last a similarly extraordinary, bolt-from-the-blue transfer involving an exotic South American, Tevez took until February to score his first goal for his new club. Robinho is not the best player in the world; he will not win games off his own boot from the start. But he is nonetheless a superb player and, perhaps most importantly, emphatically has his best years ahead.

In Mark Hughes, he has a strong-willed manager who should refrain from over-indulging him, and will not accept anything less than complete respect for his methods. Providing he can coax something close to Robinho’s best then, with a host of proven high-quality Premier League performers alongside him, then Man City, in stark contrast to their doom-leaden pre-season, really could have a chance of a Champions League spot.

Whatever happens, Robinho’s acquisition is stunning testament to the aspirations of Man City’s new owners. His signing complete let City’s Championship Manager evoking shortlist for the next transfer window commence.