Robinho out on loan

Confirmed on the Official Site. He will play for Santos until the end of the season.

The Club can confirm that it has reached agreement with Santos for Robinho to join them on a six-month loan. The agreement takes immediate effect and ends on August 4.

Santos will assume all of the player's contract terms, including wages and bonuses. Robinho will travel to Brazil on Sunday to begin his loan period.

As I said earlier, there is no doubt he has been a disappointment this season. After scoring 15 goals in his opening season (and even that was perceived to be a failure according to most experts), he has only contributed one this season, in his last match against Scunthorpe.

Again, in fairness, it was his signing that started the ball rolling. That showed the world's players that City are an attractive prospect (if only for the wages). So we owe him thanks for that, at least.

Robinho's £32.5million transfer fee was always used as a stick to beat him with, and after every shot of target or unsuccessful dribble the vultures would circle.

But a loan to Santos is ridiculously unambitious by Robinho. If you can't motivate yourself to play well for two of the biggest clubs in the world (Manchester City and Real Madrid), then you have a big, big problem.

He really has no ticker whatsoever, so despite irregular flashes of brilliance, Robinho was hardly value for money.

A real shame.