In his final interview before he was sacked, former Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari conceded his squad was lacking creativity. "At Chelsea we don't have the player who can make the difference by himself by producing something magical on the pitch," Scolari, having missed out on Robinho to Manchester City, told France Football. "We miss that. I don't know why. In the past [Arjen] Robben was at Chelsea and he could make the difference. But now there is no one.

"Robinho could have been this player. He is not afraid to dribble, to take a risk. As a Brazilian I like this. My team isn't Brazilian enough. It is a 'bureaucratic' team. That's the style of my players. That's why Robinho would have done a lot of good."