Thaindian News

London, Dec. 23 (ANI): Manchester City’s new manager Roberto Mancini reckons that Robinho is worth his 32.5-million-pound price tag, albeit his failure to deliver for former manager Mark Hughes.

“I think that Robinho can make history. I played for Sampdoria for 15 years and I made history, I wrote history, and I think that Robinho can stay here and write himself into the history of Manchester City,” The Telegraph quoted Mancini, as saying.

“Robinho is a fantastic player, but I have five or six who play in attack and who are very good. We can play in different formations. I always played to attack and for me, that’s most important,” he added.

Since his arrival from Real Madrid in Sept 2008, the Brazilian forward has proved to be a major disappointment at Eastlands.

Robinho’s inability to justify his lofty reputation has been singled out as a key factor in Hughes’s dismissal by Sheikh Mansour last Saturday. Robinho is set to stay at Manchester City during the transfer window following Barcelona’s admission that the player is no longer on their wanted list.

With Stoke City due at Eastlands on Boxing Day, Mancini admits that plugging the defensive leaks is priority.

“To win games you have to defend well. It is most important that the squad stop conceding goals. The players can look forward to plenty of hard work and to improving their concentration levels. We have the players to be successful,” Mancini said.

“You cannot win games without scoring goals, and my teams in Italy never played for 0-0 draws, but it is important to defend well too,” he added. (ANI)