Robinho can make history, says Mancini

Roberto Mancini wants Robinho to “write the history” of Manchester City.

The British record £32.5million striker will be one of the first players Mancini will want to settle following the upheaval of the last few days.

While Robinho is hardly likely to shed any tears at Mark Hughes’ departure given his fractious relationship with the Welshman, with more talk about a potential move to Barcelona, the 25–year–old could be forgiven for feeling a bit uneasy.

But after appearing somewhat less committed to the grand City plan than he was when he became the first big name signing of the Abu Dhabi era, Mancini is eager to use his own time at Sampdoria to show what Robinho could achieve.

“Robinho is a fantastic player,” said Mancini. “But for a big player like him, it is important to make the history of a club.

“I played at Sampdoria for 15 years. I wrote the history. It is important. Robinho can do that here.”

Given the speed with which Mark Hughes was controversially ousted, 45–year–old Mancini will spend the preparation for a Boxing Day visit by Stoke analysing the talent at his disposal before outlining the areas that need strengthening.

Mancini certainly needs to make an impact pretty quickly given Hughes was sacked after just 18 months at the helm.

What started out as a hunt for sixth spot turned into a demand to reach 70 points following a £120m summer investment.

If City achieve Christmas victories against Stoke and Wolves, the Blues would be exactly on track at the halfway point of the campaign.


CITY chief executive Garry Cook has admitted the club agreed a deal with Mancini the day before Hughes was sacked.

The City hierarchy have come in for criticism but the club CEO insists talk of a player rebellion at Eastlands is false.

“The decision to seriously look at other managerial options was taken just three weeks ago following the Hull City game (November 28),” Cook said.