More on Robinho

This is the story that just won't go away - Robinho's move to Barcelona. And it's still moving. This week's training camp in Abu Dhabi has seen high profile denials from Mark Hughes and Garry Cook. The manager said:

"I am quite clear and Robinho should be quite clear that his future is very much with City. There is no reason to think that will change any time soon. These stories do not originate from anyone from City."

All is not what it seems, though. Daniel Taylor has reported that behind the scenes Robinho is desperate to move to Barcelona, and that the City hierarchy are quite resigned to his doing so:

Fourteen months after breaking the English transfer record to join the club from Real Madrid, Robinho is now so unsettled he has informed his advisers he does not "want another day in Manchester". Mark Hughes, the City manager, described the revelation last night as "people making mischief" but, behind the scenes, he has known for a long time that Robinho is disaffected and, grudgingly, the club have started the search for a possible replacement. Angel Di María of Benfica has been identified among the leading candidates and has a £27m buyout clause in his contract.

The question now seems to be when, rather than if, Robinho leaves. Hughes is keen not to lose such a talented player in the middle of the season but, if the Brazilian has his way, he will move at the earliest opportunity.

There's more, but we all know the fundamentals here: Robinho (and his wife, apparently) have not settled in the area, that he is attracted by what he sees as the more comfortable option at Barça, that Pep Guardiola wants a specialist left winger, and that the return to form and fitness of Martin Petrov and Craig Bellamy mean that Robinho is no longer the indispensable man.

None of this means that he will certainly leave in January, or even in the summer. But it is another step in that direction.