Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has said Brazil star Robinho has apologized for leaving the Premier League club’s warm weather training camp in Tenerife without permission.
He also dismissed reports Robinho would be involved in a transfer window swap deal with Chelsea’s Didier Drogba.
Robinho flew home to Santos on a private jet and has since claimed he had to deal with a pressing family matter.
That has cut little ice with City officials who say the forward will be disciplined on his return to the club — Robinho rejoining the training camp has been ruled out because of the time-difference and travel constraints.
Hughes was adamant the 24-year-old’s walkout was in no way linked to the collapse of the deal to sign Robinho’s fellow Brazil star Kaka and a feeling the club’s grand ambitions are unlikely to be realized.
Robinho, City’s leading scorer this term after arriving at Eastlands in a British transfer record £32 million (US$44 million) deal in September from Real Madrid, is set to rejoin the squad upon their return to Manchester at the weekend.
He will be in contention to play for lowly City against Newcastle United on Wednesday, although by then he could have been fined a couple of weeks’ wages, worth around £200,000.
“He has apologized that he left without permission,” Hughes said. “He needs to be able to put his side of the story. I will put mine — and we will move on.”
City’s aborted bid for Kaka was preceded by failed attempts to sign Gianluigi Buffon, Thierry Henry and the Valencia pair David Villa and David Silva, it emerged on Thursday.
None of the moves got as far as the attempt to sign Kaka, with the players’ current clubs all quoting exorbitant prices in an attempt to make the most of City owner Sheikh Mansour’s personal fortune.
“We’re not anybody’s fool,” City’s executive chairman Garry Cook told reporters.
But any suggestion City do not overpay for players looks debatable.
This month they’ve spent a total of £40 million on Wayne Bridge, formerly Chelsea’s reserve left-back, Craig Bellamy, who has managed only five goals this season, and Nigel de Jong, who was their third choice for a new holding player behind Barcelona’s Yaya Toure and Lassana Diarra, who opted to join Real Madrid.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
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