Source: Daily_Mail
Watch out Manchester City: Robinho doing a runner is nothing new, just ask Real and Santos
No place like home: Robinho is back in Brazil
So Manchester City's British transfer record signing Robinho has upped sticks and gone back to Brazil after being overshadowed by talk of Kaka's proposed move to Eastlands.
It must have been horrific for the poor fellow, who likes to be the centre of attention, to find himself ignored as the world went gaga over his fellow Brazilian.
AC Milan star Kaka knocked back a£100million move to City, which made Robinho's£34m transfer fee seem paltry in comparison.
A booking in City's 1-0 win over Wigan was hardly going to make the headlines and it's Robinho's birthday on Sunday, so maybe he felt like some home cooking.
It was time for a well-executed strop and what looks like a flagrant breach of club discipline by walking out of Manchester City's 'team bonding' boot camp in Tenerife.
Robinho's behaviour brings a whole new meaning to the term 'Monday morning blues'.
But surely Mark Hughes should have been aware of Robinho's turbulent past?
The striker has previous - and is all too familiar with squirming his way out of something when his ego demands.
As a young, promising 17-year-old talent from the slums of Sao Paulo, Robinho signed for Santos in 2002.
His goals and guile helped the club to the Brazilian championship that year and the final of the Copa Libertadores in 2003.
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Teenage kicks: Robinho shows off the trophy after winning the 2002 Brazilian title before being unveiled as a Real Madrid player three years later (below)
Life was good and, although Robinho began to be linked with some of the top European clubs, including Real Madrid, he committed his immediate future to the Brazilian side.
But in 2004 things started to turn sour. Robinho's mother, 43-year-old Marina de Silva Souza, was kidnapped at a friend's barbecue in November.
Robinho made an emotional plea on television for his mother's safe return and she was released after the player paid a substantial ransom.
The event echoed the kidnap of former Brazil striker Romario's mother by a Rio de Janeiro gang 10 years earlier and greatly unnerved Robinho, whose form suffered on the pitch.
But it was in 2005 that his stubborn streak came to light. He decided he no longer wanted to play in Brazil and the boy from the slums began to harbour after a big-money move to Europe.
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Santos said they would not sell their star player unless another club paid the buy-out clause listed in his contract. So Robinho just went AWOL.
'We will keep fining him for missing work until he decides to show up again,' said club spokesman Aldo Neto.
Fair enough, but Robinho already had plenty of money. As for his reputation, well, who cares what the Santos faithful thought when he was lighting up the Bernebeu?
His tactics worked and, in August 2005, Robinho got his wish and engineered a move to Real Madrid.
The club paid 60 per cent of the buy-out clause in his contract, believed to be around €24m, and Robinho became a Real Madrid player.
He made a good start to life in the Spanish capital, scoring eight goals in 38 appearances, but hit the second brick wall of his career when Fabio Capello replaced Juan Ramon Lopez Caro in May 2006.
One gets the impression the Italian, now manager of England, does not suffer fools gladly.
And he certainly wasn't signing up to the Robinho fan club, giving the striker pride of place on the substitutes' bench.
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City slicker: Robinho celebrates scoring in the 6-0 win over Portsmouth
Bernd Schuster replaced Capello in June 2007, but rumours were rife that Chelsea were tracking Robinho.
The player's agent, Wagner Ribeiro, began talking about how his client deserved more respect from Real Madrid and Robinho openly said his time at the club was coming to an end.
Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon initially claimed Robinho would remain at the Bernebeu but grew irritated with the Brazilian's increasingly disrespectful behaviour.
In turn, Robinho took exception to Calderon's determination to land Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo and was particularly offended at being offered to the Red Devils as a makeweight in a bid for the Portuguese.
Robinho thought he was at least as good as the man who went on to be named World Player of the Year.
Calderon then conceded that nobody would be kept at the club against their will. It seemed Robinho's wantaway tactics had paid off. Again.
'I want to go to Chelsea,' he said, and to London it seemed he would go. But then the Blues posted a picture of Robinho in a Chelsea shirt on their website, which angered Real Madrid so much they sold Robinho to moneybags Manchester City instead.
'It was Chelsea's fault. Real Madrid did not want me to go there, but Chelsea did not help themselves,' said Robinho, speaking to FourFourTwo magazine last year.
'I thought I was going to Chelsea, then Manchester City made me an offer which was good for me and my family.'
The striker has enacted his third strop at his third club and who would bet against him getting exactly what he wants.
You can just see the Manchester City staff scarpering across the Atlantic after him.
Sportsmail Online's Top Five Wantaway Footballers
There's the passive way to make sure you leave a club by seeing out your contract (a la Sol Campbell) and then there's the second tactic: making a real nuisance of yourself.
Here is our guide to those who couldn't get away quick enough.
Pierre van Hooijdonk
The Holland striker was hastily sold by Celtic in 1997 after his ill-advised comments about the£7,000-a-week wage increase on offer.
Statements like 'It may be good enough for the homeless, but not for an international striker' are guaranteed to get you a one-way ticket to a new employer.
But Van Hooijdonk (right) wasn't happy with just one faux pas. In the summer of 1998 he went on strike when Nottingham Forest did not fulfil their promise to buy more quality players.
His impasse lasted until November when he returned to play a part in Forest's relegation and was sold to Vitesse Arnhem for£3.5m.
The retired striker also lost£2m last year after investing in a bogus Chinese textile company - I'm sure former Forest manager Dave Bassett wasn't smiling at all.
Marco Boogers
The Dutch striker doesn't represent Harry Redknapp's finest acquisition in the transfer market.
Boogers made just two substitute appearances for West Ham, received a straight red card for a dire tackle on Gary Neville and went AWOL to live in a caravan in Holland.
The Hammers gave him a free transfer to Groningen.
Craig Bellamy
Another striker (there's a trend developing here) who wound his manager up a treat.
Bellamy outraged Newcastle boss Graeme Souness in 2005 by accusing him of lying.The Welshman then refused to apologise and was sent on loan to Celtic.
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Well-travelled: Bellamy has cost clubs£43million over his career
As a Blackburn player, he angered former Newcastle team-mate Alan Shearer and then, as a Liverpool player in April 2007, he did an interview saying he intended to leave the club that summer.
All a big mistake, Bellamy claimed, but he still joined West Ham that year.
Finally, despite Gianfranco Zola's assertion that Bellamy was a 'perfect professional' (are you sure about that, Gianfranco?), the Wales striker stormed out of the Hammers' Chadwell Heath training ground last week after West Ham said he couldn't join Tottenham.
Boo, hoo, hoo. Bellamy has since joined Manchester City, giving Mark Hughes another ego to manage.
Dimitar Berbatov
You got the distinct impression Berbatov didn't fancy being a Spurs player last summer.
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Points mean prizes: Berbatov celebrates his winner at Bolton at the weekend - the victory fired United to the top of the table for the first time this season
He sulked, strutted and squirmed his way out of White Hart Lane, missing two games for Tottenham before finally moving to Manchester United for£30m on deadline day.
Ex-Spurs boss Juande Ramos had admitted he didn't know where the striker had gone during his period of self-imposed absence from the club, although that probably says more about the manager than the striker.
The Facebook Generation
Last summer, 19-year-old Crystal Palace player Ashley-Paul Robinson posted a message on his Facebook site saying he was having a trial with Fulham.
Error - I'm sure Neil Warnock wasn't impressed.
Alex Bruce, 23, then made the same cardinal sin and wrote his intention to quit Ipswich Town on a social networking site in August.
Will footballers ever learn?
More...
Runaway Robinho insists he has permission to return to Brazil - as Manchester City ponder disciplining their£34m man
Is this the Real reason Kaka turned down Manchester City? - Beckham's role in Milan star's decision to snub£100m deal
God guided me - Kaka explains why he snubbed Manchester City's£100m offer
What's the story? Noel Gallagher takes aim at Sir Alex and Arsene over Kaka criticism
City executive chairman Garry Cook slams AC Milan 'bottlers' after Kaka's Eastlands snub
EXCLUSIVE: City meltdown as Kaka's£100m move collapses and Robinho walks out after training bust-up
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