Transfer Talk: Should Robinho Be Acquired by Barcelona from Manchester City?

On paper it seems like the perfect fit: Robinho on the left side of Barcelona’s three-pronged attack.

Next week, this dream could move closer to reality when Barcelona and Manchester City officials meet in Abu Dhabi to discuss the details of the possible move.

The courtship between the former Real Madrid star and Barca has been a major talking point throughout the early part of the season, especially with Thierry Henry struggling with injuries. It is expected that the 32-year-old Frenchman could return to the English Premier League if Robinho does make the switch to the Camp Nou.

Robinho is an ideal replacement for Henry tactically: His ability to play wide on the left and then cut on to his favored right foot perfectly mirrors Lionel Messi, a left-footed player who plays on the right. Robinho, like Henry and Messi, is a very versatile attacker with the capability of playing on either flank or through the middle.

Movement across the front line was one of the most effective traits of Barcelona’s attack last season, but this year it has looked more stagnant with the less mobile Sweden international Zlatan Ibrahimovic replacing the flexible Samuel Eto’o.

With Ibrahimovic guaranteed a starting spot after Barca sent over 40 million euros and Eto’o to Inter for him, it begs the question: Would Robinho really change the way Barcelona plays?

The answer is no. As long as Ibra is at Barca, it is unlikely that Pep Guardiola’s side will ever move as interchangeable parts, like they did last season. Barcelona must learn to play with Ibrahimovic, a more conventional target man, and Robinho does not have to be part of that process.

The addition of Robinho would not only fail to revert Barca to last season’s fluid playing style, but he also brings with him a great deal of baggage.

Guardiola is said to be upset with Henry’s attitude over being on the bench more as of late. If such accusations are true, it is puzzling why Guardiola would look to Robinho, a player who complained about playing time and ultimately demanded a transfer away from Real Madrid because the club was linked to Cristiano Ronaldo.

Robinho’s poor attitude has often followed him onto the field, where he has seemed disinterested at times. At Manchester City, he was invisible when playing on the road, contributing to a gap of nearly eight months without an away win for the club.

Although never a full-time starter at Real Madrid, Robinho failed to show consistency and managed just 25 goals in 101 La Liga games. In comparison, Henry scored 31 times in his first 59 league matches for Barcelona.

Clearly production and consistency are issues with Robinho, but his ability to provide the needed magic to unlock a defense cannot be undermined. Getting him to contribute such acts on a regular basis will be the hard part.

Barcelona should be more than used to the Brazilian football player’s way of life, especially after forcing Ronaldinho out of the club when his crazy nightlife turned him into a shadow of his former self on the pitch.

Robinho and Ronaldinho were amongst the members of the Brazilian National Team that were seen partying all night as Rio de Janeiro clubs in October 2007 following a World Cup Qualifying match against Ecuador. The post-match celebration caused Robinho’s late return to Madrid.

He admitted regret for his tardiness, but refused to apologize for the partying: “I'm sorry for having been late, but I'm not apologizing for the party. Parties are normal with Brazil after we've won a match, and that night we had won 5-0."

Robinho’s focus could be at an all-time low with the World Cup looming at season’s end. All players can be guilty of keeping one eye towards the World Cup while playing for their clubs, but few are more culpable than Brazilians.

Robinho has always been culpable of showing more emotion and intent while playing for Brazil during the Confederations Cup and Copa America than for any of his European Club sides. During a World Cup year, this disparity between club and country could become two-fold. Barcelona has seen this characteristic firsthand on a few occasions.

Romario, another Brazilian who spent a short time at Barcelona, best epitomizes the Brazilian lifestyle. Johann Cruyff, Romario’s manager during his brief spell in Catalonia, said of the former PSV man, “He lacked discipline, and that was one of the problems we had to deal with.”

His coach at PSV, Bobby Robson, also commented, “The Brazilian was an exciting player...but he could also be frustrating, disappearing for long periods of the game....and sometimes socializing and dancing late into the night before important games.”

Author Jimmy Burns perhaps best described Romario and the Brazilian attitude during a World Cup year in his 1998 book, Barca: A People’s Passion :

“In his second season with the team, he saw it as his priority to play for Brazil in the World Cup in the US...He was determined not to do anything that might put his presence in the US at risk, which meant that while he was at Barca he played only when he felt like it, not when Cruyff wanted him to.”

Since that time, other Brazilians have followed Romario's lead (Ronaldinho's performance in 2006 the exception rather than the rule).

In the 2000-2001 season, Brazilian star Rivaldo scored 36 goals. The following year, with the World Cup in South Korea and Japan on the horizon, injuries kept him out of many games, and he scored just 14 times. He went on to lift the World Cup and pick up the Silver Shoe Award for his country.

The risks outweigh the rewards in regards to Robinho, but that does not mean Barca should be idle during the transfer market. Luis Suarez of Ajax has been linked with Barcelona, and he has been in scintillating form so far this season, hitting 16 goals in 12 league games.

The only question surrounding the Uruguayan is his capacity to adapt to the Spanish game. Many players have come from the Dutch Eredivisie with sparkling scoring records, only to flop elsewhere.

Guardiola could even side with the option of keeping Henry, but regardless of what he does, there will be positives and negatives. Henry may not be able to play at the highest level much longer, while Suarez has never played in a top league.

With Robinho the question lies off the field. After axing Ronaldinho, Deco, and Eto’o for similar issues, will Guardiola take the same risk again?