AC Milan striker Robinho has said that he does not want to leave the club despite rumours persisting about an impending return to his homeland Brazil. Robinho has been consistently linked with a return to his former club Santos in recent months. He came extremely close to leaving in January, but Milan refused to sell him especially because they sold Alexandre Pato only a few weeks back. Robinho has ended up staying at the San Siro and he has been an influential figure for the club in recent weeks. Now, he has said that he wants to sign a contract with the club.

Robinho’s deal with AC Milan runs out at the end of the 2014 season, and there has been speculation that he may be sold in the summer as the club would rather get a reduced transfer fee then lose him for nothing. The 29-year-old has made 20 appearances for the Italian club this season, but he has been a major disappointment as he has scored just two goals. The arrival of Mario Balotelli and presence of players like Pazzini is threatening to make Robinho a regular substitute. However, he is happy with the amount of gametime he has been receiving in the last few months.

“I would like to sign a contract extension. I want to end the season on a high and will give my utmost in the remaining games. After that, we’ll talk about a renewal. I have a lot of respect for the coach and my teammates, but if it was up to me, I’d already be back on the pitch by now. El Shaarawy has exploded on the scene and there’s also Balotelli, Niang, Bojan and Pazzini. The second reason [for not playing] is that I’ve had some injury problems,” said Brazilian star Robinho.

The AC Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri has said that he feels that the Brazilian striker Robinho will be returning to his home country in the next few transfer windows. The 28-year-old has been linked with a return to Brazil for a long time now, but the club officials have maintained strongly that the player will not be sold during the summer or the January transfer window. However, the manager Allegri has admitted that the player has been away from his home country for a long time and he feels that it is the time to go now.

Robinho has been playing in Europe for the last eight seasons on the trot. He came to Europe back in 2005 with the Spanish club Real Madrid. He has since played for the Premier league club Manchester city before moving to the Italian club AC Milan initially on a season-long deal, which was converted into a permanent one recently. Following the departure of the star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robinho and Pato form the main striker scored the club, but they have been overshadowed this season due to the form shown by the young striker Stephan El Shaarawy. Allegri has admitted that Robinho has been the player he has utilised the most during his time at the club and it will be sad to see him leave.

“There’s not a lot I can do other than talk to him, everything else depends on the club and the player. He has played for me more than any other player and I hold him in great esteem. He has been away from Brazil for eight years and it would seem he wants to go back,” said the Milan manager. Meanwhile, the Juventus manager Antonio Conte has admitted that the club will not be making any major investment during the upcoming transfer window.

The Brazilian striker Robinho has backed the underfire AC Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri by saying that he is a great coach. He has said that if Allegri is struggling with the job, then it means that all the AC Milan players are also struggling with their respective jobs. Hence, it is not fair to criticise the performances of Massimiliano Allegri alone. The AC Milan manager has come under intense criticism in the first few weeks of the campaign after he has been unable to get any sort of form from the team. Even though they have sold a lot of high profile players and lost veterans due to their age, Milan were never expected to be closer to the relegation zone.

This has intensified the pressure on the manager, who is rumoured to be on the verge of getting the sack. Robinho, who is one of the last remaining stars in the team, has backed the manager by saying that he has always been top notch. Hence, if there is something wrong with the manager according to the media, then some portion of the blame also has to go to the players. Massimiliano Allegri has had a difficult time especially with the loss of players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva. He has also had to contend with the lack of Robinho in the first few weeks.

“It’s hard, and the season will not restart until the team really win. If he [Allegri] is in trouble, therefore so are we. But football teaches us that things can change fast. It takes two to three good games in a row and you get back on track. With Inter, they deserved to win and it is a shame that after there has been a defeat, the pressure weighs a lot more,” said Robinho.

The star striker of AC Milan, Robinho, would not be able to play for the club in the next four weeks. Robinho had injured his thigh while playing against Sampdoria a few days back. According to the medical reports, Robinho needs at least 4 weeks to get rid of the injury and Milan would be playing without one of its senior players in the next few matches. The injury of Robinho is an additional blow for Milan which was already hampered by the absence of Alexandro Pato who is out of the team due to the muscle injury.

The manager of Milan, Massimiliano Allegri, said that Robinho is an experienced striker and his injury is definitely going to hurt the team. He is an integral part of the team and hopefully, he would be able to make a comeback soon. Robinho himself was also quite gutted after getting injured. The Brazilian international said that it’s always frustrating to miss games due to injury. You don’t want to be sidelined; you want to be out there playing for your team. Unfortunately, he would have to go through a tough month. Hopefully, he would recover quickly and make a comeback towards the end of September.

However, Milan didn’t miss Robinho much in the match against Bologna. Milan easily won that match by 3-1.  The new signing of the club, Giampaolo Pazzini, scored all the three goals for Milan in the match. The Italian striker was in brilliant form and he demolished Bolonga with his fantastic striking. On being asked about Pazzini, Allegri said that Pazzini is a fantastic footballer and it was wonderful to see him playing like that. He was on fire and every goal that he scored was terrific. But, it’s only the start of the season. It’s important for him to be consistent and maintain this intensity throughout the season.

Robinho has denied the reports that he is going to leave his club AC Milan this summer. In the last few days, there have been rumors that the Brazilian striker might take transfer to his old club Santos. But, Robinho has made it clear that he would play for Milan in the upcoming season. The Brazilian superstar admitted that his old club, Santos, had approached him, but, he rejected the offer. As per Robinho, he has enjoyed playing for Milan in the last two seasons and he doesn’t have any reason to leave Milan at the moment. Many experienced players have already left AC Milan this summer including Pippo Inzaghi, Alessandro Nesta and Gennaro Gattuso. So, Robinho’s exit could have been a huge blow for the club.

Robinho had joined AC Milan in 2010 on a contract of four years. His first match for Milan was against Cesena. He came to play as substitute in that match. In his very first season for Milan, he showed what he can do. He scored a number of goals and contributed in the team’s victory in many matches. He performed decently in the last season as well. On being asked how much the team’s performance would be affected by the exit of experienced players from the team, the Brazilian superstar answered that the club has added some talented players in the squad this summer. The transfer window is still open, so, more players would be added. The team is new and quite different from the last season. Hopefully, the new players would not let the club down. There have been reports that the Brazilian midfielder Kaka might also return to Milan. On being asked about that, Robinho said that he doesn’t have any information in this regard, but, it would be wonderful if Kaka joins AC Milan again.