How Robinho career fell apart at Manchester City, having been world’s most promising footballer when he joined Real Madrid
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ROBINHO has been sentenced to nine years in prison after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in a Milan night club along with five other men.
The Brazilian, 33, is currently back in his homeland, with Atletico Mineiro, having been at AC Milan at the time of the 2013 incident.
He joined them in the 2016 following a short spell in the Chinese Super League with Gunagzhou Evergrande, where he won the title.
However, there was a time when he was considered the best young player on the planet.
Back in 2005, Real Madrid thought they had signed a superstar — and for a while, it looked like they had.
But it wasn't long before he suffered a drastic fall from grace.
Along with fellow Brazilian Diego, Santos boasted the two most sought-after teenagers in world football in the early 2000s, with all of Europe's top sides following the duo's progress.
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Robinho made his much-anticipated professional debut in 2002 at the age of 18 and played in both legs of the defeat to Carlos Tevez's Boca Juniors in the 2003 Copa Libertadores final.
His form dipped drastically in his second season when his mother was kidnapped at gun point before being released unharmed six weeks later once a ransom had been paid.
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After rejecting several bids in the summer of 2004, Santos agreed to sell their prize asset to Real Madrid a year later.
And Los Blancos showed just how highly they rated him by handing him the No 10 shirt vacated by Luis Figo.
Robinho, 20 at the time of the move, was a regular in his first season at the Bernabeu, but initially struggled for game time under Fabio Capello in the 2006-07 campaign.
However, he was man-of-the-match as Real Madrid beat European champions Barcelona 2-0 in the first Clasico of the season.
He became a regular in the second part of the campaign — and played a crucial role as Los Blancos marched to a dramatic first La Liga title for four years.
That summer, he claimed the Golden Boot as Brazil won the 2007 Copa America, having been little more than a squad member at the previous year's World Cup.
In his third and final campaign, he earned his side a memorable win against Recreativo to keep Barcelona at bay and help Real Madrid retain the title.
At just 24, he was already a four-time league winner.
However, Real Madrid made no secret of their desire to sign Cristiano Ronaldo that same summer — and Robinho took that as a slight, given they play in similar positions.
When they failed to land the Manchester United man, the Brazilian rejected a new contract and demanded a move.
Chelsea, who were now managed by former Brazil boss Luiz Felipe Scolari, were favourites for his signature, but it was newly-wealthy Manchester City who made him Britain's most-expensive footballer at £32million on the final day of the transfer window.
Robinho hit the ground running in England by scoring on his debut — a 3-1 home loss to Chelsea — and netting a hat-trick against Stoke.
He was even given the captain's armband during a 2-2 draw against Hull.
Robinho was City's top goal scorer that season with 14, but he missed the start of his second season due to injury and struggled to recover.
He was no longer able to cope with the Premier League's physicality.
When Roberto Mancini replaced Mark Hughes as boss, the Brazilian's time in England was effectively over.
The nadir was when he suffered the humiliation of being brought on before later being subbed off during a 2-0 defeat at Everton — and he was loaned back to former side Santos.
In the summer of 2010, he went to the World Cup as his country's main man, but struggled as the Samba stars were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Holland.
he joined Milan, along with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and helped the Rossoneri break the five-year Inter Milan stronghold on the Serie A title.
He spent four relatively unspectacular years — on the pitch — in Italy, before again being loaned back to Santos in 2014.
In the following summer, he re-joined Scolari in China before returning to Brazil in 2016.