Adriano Galliani spent last Christmas in Brazil, and he brought gifts.
For Sao Paulo giants Corinthians, the AC Milan vice-president delivered 23-year-old striker Alexandre Pato in exchange for €15 million. And for one of Atletico Mineiro, Flamengo or Santos he brought high-profile forward Robinho. All he asked for in return was €10 million. He couldn’t find a taker.
In the nearly three months since his Christmas visit, Galliani hasn’t made another peep about Robinho, except to tell Sky Italia earlier this month that the 29-year-old is happy with his role at Milan. And that’s extremely troubling, given that Robinho’s contributions since entertaining a move back to his native country have included zero starts, six substitute appearances, zero goals and zero assists.
In those six cameos he has taken just a single shot (it missed the target) and has suffered only three fouls. Robinho, it seems, no longer even warrants the attention of opposition defenders, and when Galliani says the player is a-okay with that you can take him at his word.
Robinho has often been criticized for being lazy, for taking the easy street, and if he can be allowed to exist in a state of perpetual lethargy and still earn about €5 million per season, well, why wouldn’t he be happy at Milan? He might well have been playing regular football for Santos right now had he come off his wage demands.
In an interview with Globoesporte while Galliani was still in Brazil, Santos manager Muricy Ramalho said if Robinho wanted to re-join his former club he would have to “give something up.” Unfortunately for Santos, and for football, Robinho decided to reduce his playing demands instead of his wages, and as a result he will spend most of the next few months warming the benches and dancing in the luxury suites at San Siro.
That his career has come to this at a time when he should be about to exit his prime years is a shame, as it seems all we’ll be left with are a few glimpses of what might have been. Robinho, don’t forget, was projected to be a star among stars when he joined Real Madrid’s galacticos in 2005. Even when he moved to Manchester City for €42.5 million in 2008, breaking the British transfer record, he was still only 24, a Brazilian prodigy who had perhaps crossed the Atlantic too soon, but who still promised so much.
As strange as it sounds, the one full season he played at Eastlands still stands as his best since leaving Santos the first time. His 14 Premier League goals represents his biggest haul in a domestic, European league, and the 15 he managed in all competitions equals his highest tallies from his best seasons at Madrid and Milan, despite playing fewer matches.
But perhaps the best football he ever played came between January and August 2010 when, after failing to turn up for City’s mid-season getaway in Tenerife, he was loaned back to Santos.
His impact was immediate, as was his influence on his younger teammates. Despite being just 26-years-old, he was the elder statesman in a team that included such prospects as Andre, Paulo Henrique Ganso and Neymar. In his first match for Santos in more than five years, Robinho came off the bench to score the winner in a Paulista match against Sao Paulo, linking up with midfielder Wesley before finishing past goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni with a clever back-heel.
The joyous celebrations that marked every Santos goal over those six months were the real thing. They were Robinho enjoying his football for the first time as an adult; they were nothing like the dance he would perform in a luxury box three years later with Mario Balotell — a phony delight and pretend merriment that only served to take away from his teammates’ memorable 2-0 win over Barcelona.
No, Robinho was a different man at Santos — the exciting, supremely gifted footballer Real Madrid had shelled out €24 million for when he was just 21-years of age. His five goals in 12 matches helped the Peixe to the Paulista title, and the six he scored in nine cup matches were central to a first ever Copa do Brasil crown.
For him, for his teammates and for those who watched him, those six months went by far too quickly, and in August 2010 he joined AC Milan from City for €18 million. His story since has been that of slow decline — from 15 goals in his first season with the Rossoneri to 10 last term to just a pair this campaign and only that one measly shot and three fouls suffered this calendar year.
Only 16 months remain on Robinho’s contract with Milan, so it’s more than likely that either Santos or a rival Brazilian club will get him at a cut-rate price this summer. What’s certain is that he has played his final match in the Champions League, that his career in European football will be remembered as a high-priced bust, if it’s remembered at all.
Galliani says Robinho is happy, and that might be true. But he was happiest during those six months at Santos, and here’s hoping that before he calls time on one of the more bizarre careers in recent memory he returns to Brazil, lets a smile cross his face and plays with the exuberance he has only ever showcased in his homeland.
Jerrad Peters is a Winnipeg-based soccer writer. Follow him on Twitter.