‘Robinho has been wrongly advised. He needs proper counselling. The lure of £4m a year after taxes had influenced his reasoning. He has no business in a club like Man city. I am disappointed at his decision.’ Such were the criticisms from the Football Legend Pele.
‘I accept your criticism because you are the king of football. But I have good reasons for joining Manchester City. If you were me, you would do the same,’ Brazilian sensation, Robinho, retorted.
When Pele the legendary King of football played the beautiful game, it was for sheer passion: contracts were only enough to make ends meet; It didn’t matter to him, as long as he played and competed in the top flight. But how times have changed. Football has since grown into one of the worlds most lucrative professions and football players have grown in passion for its lucre.
King Pele had set a trend, a culture where the golden boys of Brazilian football played and competed in the top flight irrespective of fat pay cheques, especially during their productive years. Ronaldo, R. Carlos, Adriano, Ronaldinho, Kaka and Alexander Pato amongst others have all been faithful Brazilian elites. But the same cannot be said of Robinho, at least, not according to Pele’s point of view.
The Football Legend doesn’t seem to have come to terms that it is all about the money these days. Little wonder he is beating himself over Robinho’s move to the newly dubbed ‘Middle’ Eastland Club, Manchester City. Other than the fact that Pele feels the Samba sensation has fallen foul of the long held Brazilian culture, he believes the 24 year old international has no business in a team like City. But it is obvious that Pele isn’t looking at the long term goals of the Trillionaire owned club.
The Brazilian phenomenon on Monday signed for Manchester City but pundits have teased that Robinho hasn’t fully realised who he has joined. In an interview, Robinho was quoted as saying ‘On the last day, Chelsea made me a great proposal and I accepted it,’ but when the reporter replied: ‘You mean Manchester right?’ Robinho answered, ‘Yeah, Yeah, Manchester, sorry!’
Soccer pundits insist that the money was a massive factor in the deal; £4m a year after taxes. But it can be argued that he may also have considered the long term future of the club, which looks brighter than Chelsea.
King Pele was quoted as saying ‘Robinho needs counselling’ and the experts agree with the football King on a footballing level. At just 24, a talent like Robinho should be playing Champions League football, and he too can agree.
