Transer flops - Robinho

Huge expectations were placed on the shoulders of Robinho when Manchester City shelled out big bucks to bring him to Eastlands in 2008.  The Brazlian was a sign of intent from the Abu Dhabi United Group, who upon taking over on transfer deadline day highlighted to the world how serious they were about taking the club to the top of the tree.

After beginning his career at hometown club Santos he enjoyed stellar years as the goals flowed, except a minor blip in 2004/05 season after his mother was kidnapped by gunmen.  Europe clamoured to prise the youngster away in 2004 but the club declined all offers, and the man who made his debut aged 18 in 2002 endured one more season.

After two Campeonato Brasileiro triumphs the big move finally came about in 2005, with Real Madrid beating off all competition by paying 60 per cent of the £24m realise clause inserted into his contract (just short of £15m).  Wearing the number 10 shirt, previously donned by Luis Figo, he endured a solid first season in La Liga scoring 14 goals in 37 appearances.

However at the start of the 2006/07 campaign he found himself out of favour at the club, being deemed too flashy by the new regime that was instilled under President Ramon Calderon and manager Fabio Capello.  After being returned to the starting line up for the second half of the season, he did his bit in helping the club claim the La Liga title.  When Capello was fired Bernd Schuster came in, bringing back the confidence with a run of games in the first team.

Barcelona were once again kept at bay, and despite injury playing it's part, a second La Liga title and fourth in total was on it's way.  Robinho finished the season with 11 league goals and eight assists, and in the process was, along with Iker Casillas, the only Madrid player to finish in the top ten of Fifa's World Player of the Year nominations.

All wasn't well behind the scenes though, with Calderon reportedly going back on promises of a new contract.  The Brazilian himself has since stated talks didn't materialise because the club wanted to use him as bait in transfer dealings, most notably as part exchange or a sale to help fund a move for Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo.  All this for a player who was thried highest goalscorer at the club during his tenure, and also second in the asssist rankings.

So onto Manchester, where City beat Chelsea to the signature the London club thought was definitely going to go their way.  The Stamford Bridge club have since stated Madrid's asking price was the problem, not a problem for the newly rich sky blues who shelled out £32.5m.  Mark Hughes, gaffer at the time, said after the transfer "This is a real statement of intent as to the ambitions of this club."  Unfortunately intent he wouldn't be around to see, although neither was the player himself.

After a wonderful start, scoring on his debut at home to Chelsea, the hype proved too much and he couldn't settle in England.  Home form was no problem for the player, but away from home he struggled continuously.  The second season proved even more disappointing, when after an injury sidelined him for months he found himself down the pecking order.  This resulted in a move away being sought, and he headed back to his homeland.

Former club Santos were the destination, after the two clubs agreed to a six month loan deal.  Upon arriving back he helped the club win the Copa Brasil for the first time in club's history, while stating he would rather stay with the club than return to England.  However City didn't want the loan deal extending and with Santos not putting an offer in, he had no choice but to go back to the club against his will.

With it being no secret a move was being looked for, Fenerbache and Besiktas opened talks but the player himself refused to move to Turkey and instead held on for Italy or Spain.  And late on in the transfer window he got his wish, with AC Milan making a move to take the player for £15m.  At the club he does seem to seem to have returned to form, scoring 14 goals in 34 appearances during the 2010/11 season where he helped the club to a Serie A victory.  In addition to this he also won the Italian Supercup this season, beating near rivals Inter Milan in the process.

On an international level, his first cap came in 2003 and he has been somewhat of an ever present since.  He has won two Confederations Cups in 2005 and 2009 and one Copa America in 2007, but is yet to taste World Cup victory.  However with the 2014 World Cup being help in the samba nation, Robinho could have a chance to taste the ultimate victory.  That is if he can keep playing football with a smile on his face, maintain form and keep a place in the squad at the age of 30.

Transfer flops: Bebe

The unknown Portuguese winger whipped up a storm of speculation when he signed for Manchester United last year.  Who was this person who it's rumoured Sir Alex Ferguson had never seen play? Was it true that he was offered around Europe for next to nothing? And did he really play in the Homeless World Cup?

Well allow Sports Portal to clear up these little dilemmas.  At the unveiling of his new signing, Ferguson did indeed admit that he had never witnessed the prodigy play or even seen a video.  With other European big guns circling United were positive they had to act quickly, the Red Devils boss said at the time (to the Daily Mail): 

"I didn't see any videos of him, it's the first time. Normally, as in the case of Javier (Hernandez) and Chris (Smalling), I saw plenty of video footage of them.
"You've got to trust your staff at times and our scout in Portugal was adamant we must do something quickly.
"So were one or two other clubs and that's where you have to make quick decisions in life and I'm not too bad about that. I also spoke to Carlos Queiroz (his former assistant at United and now Iran coach) about him.
"Sometimes you have to go on an instinct, you look at material. You look at their age and whether they're bringing pace, balance, desire to play and things like that."

The Homeless World Cup debacle is a thing of fiction, after it was proven that he played for partner organisation CAIS.  He did compete at The European Street Football Festival in 2009 for this partner project, but you can dispel any other rumours.  As for point number two, we'll get to that soon.

Following stints at amateur sides Bebe was signed by Estrela Da Amadora in the summer of 2009, where he was widely regarded as the finest player on their books.  However financial problems took their toll on the side, and subsequently he was offered around Europe for as little as £125,000.  No takers come forward though, with PSV Eindhoven saying they rejected the chance to take the youngster on a free as they didn't know anything about him.

Vitoria Guimaraes eventually signed the player, after cash flow problems worsened at Estrela Da Amadora.  From here on in, it must have seemed like a fairytale.  A glittering pre-season earned the interest of English Champions Manchester United, who eagerly snapped up their man for an undisclosed fee (thought to be around £7.4m).  After his short stint at Guimaraes, where he stayed around five weeks only, he failed to live up to expectations in the Premier League.

Following some very abject performances in his first season, including a poor display at home to non-league Crawley town, he was farmed out on the loan at the start of the 2011/12 campaign.  Besiktas was the destination where it was hoped he could turn in some stellar performances, and return to the North-West rejuvenated ready to fight for a starting place.  However a cruciate ligament injury has ruled him out for at least six months, so it could be a while yet before we see if he really has what it takes to make it at the top level.