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.