Robinho says Chelsea error resulted in failed deal

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SAO PAULO: Chelsea’s mistake to put Robinho’s jersey on sale before he was signed was largely responsible for Real Madrid stopping the deal from going through, the Brazil striker said.
Robinho, who ended up moving to Manchester City for a British-record fee of £32.5mil (US$58mil), said Chelsea’s offering of shirts bearing his name angered the Spanish club and made the deal all but impossible.
“Of course, my goal was to go to Chelsea,” Robinho said on Wednesday after arriving in Brazil for World Cup qualifiers. “But the mistake by Chelsea to put my name on the jersey without me having signed anything dented Real Madrid’s pride.”
Chelsea called the sale of the jerseys a “regrettable accident by an external supplier which was rectified as soon as it was brought to our attention and not a single shirt was sold.”
Robinho said the incident only intensified the fighting between the rival clubs and added another obstacle to the negotiations.
The Brazilian forward said City eventually came up with a better offer than Chelsea in the final minutes of the European transfer window and he decided to take it.
“I’m happy with the move, I’m going to a big club too,” Robinho said. “It hasn’t won many titles recently, but I’m part of a project that is just starting and I expect to win many titles there.”
Robinho, who will join fellow Brazilians Jo and Elano at City, said Real Madrid never intended to keep him and even tried to use him to sign Cristiano Ronaldo earlier this year.
“Real Madrid didn’t want me to stay at the time, so there is no reason I should’ve wanted to stay now,” Robinho said.
The Brazilian said Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon and coach Bernd Schuster didn’t want him to go because the club failed to make significant new signings.
“I wanted to leave without having to fight, but that wasn’t possible because club was desperate because it couldn’t sign anybody,” Robinho said, referring to Madrid’s lowest off-season expenditure since 1995.
Robinho also denied Calderon’s claims that the striker cried and begged to let him go.
“I only cried when he didn’t let me go to the Olympics, I was very upset,” Robinho said. “(This time) I only told him the truth, that I didn’t want to stay, but he didn’t listen to me because he was desperate for not being able to sign anybody.”
Robinho agreed to a four-year contract with Man City and will reportedly earn US$8.7mil a year - about three times his salary with the Spanish champion. –