Manchester City: Robinho – Should he stay or should he go?

Brazilian ace Robinho is proof that money can’t buy you happiness. Manchester City’s record transfer signing is reputedly on £160,000 a week at Eastlands yet the incessant rumours coming out of his camp suggest that he wants to swap Manchester for the sun and warmth of Spanish giants Barcelona. So the big question to City fans is; do you want Robinho to stay or do you think it’s time to let him go?

Manchester City rocked the football world last September by revealing they had secured the talents of Robinho from Real Madrid for an astonishing £32.5 million. Everyone had expected Chelsea to land the former Santos man, but that was before City were sold to the filthy rich Abu Dhabi United Group. And they made their intentions for success clear with the stunning coup of the Brazilian star.

Robinho was an instant hit at Eastlands, scoring on his debut against Chelsea and bagged his first, and only, hat-trick for the club against Stoke a month later. The former Real Madrid ace was living up to his star billing with some sublime displays. However, City were poor on the road and Robinho began to draw criticism from fans and pundits for his lacklustre performances away from Eastlands.

The 25-year-old ended the season as City’s top goalscorer in the league with 14 goals in 31 appearances. On paper that is an impressive return, but when you think that he only managed to net three times in the second half of the season you realise that he not only cheated himself, he cheated the club, his team-mates and the fans by not getting even more.

Robinho has made just three appearances for City this season and has missed the past two months due to an ankle injury. Mark Hughes’s men made a blistering start to the season with the defence holding tight and Adebayor scoring for fun. People started to take their title challenge seriously, then City lost their only game of the season at Old Trafford and things have gone a bit flat on the blue half of Manchester since then. They managed back-to-back wins against Fulham and West Ham United after that defeat to their neighbours but they have drawn their past five league meetings.

City are currently 10 points behind the leaders Chelsea, with a game in hand, but many people believe that they should be a lot closer to Ancelotti’s men in the table having dropped points against the likes of Birmingham City, Burnley and Wigan Athletic.

Scoring goals is not a problem for City, it’s at the back that they need to fix up and look sharp. Robinho is not famed for his defensive qualities but his creativity could allow City to storm into unassailable leads, thus taking the pressure off Toure, Lescott and co.

There’s no denying that on his day Robinho is simply brilliant. He can leave defenders chasing shadows and make even the most sublime goalkeepers look stupid. However, if his heart is not in Manchester City then there’s surely no point in holding on to him. Would it not be better to cash in on the Brazilian and use that money to improve the squad elsewhere?

It is a tricky predicament for Hughes, but if you were the gaffer would you let Robinho leave or would you try and convince him that his future is at Eastlands? We’d love to hear what you would do.