Robinho felt Manchester City didn't have the players to get the best out of him during his stay in England.

After scoring 14 goals in 41 league games, Robinho moved to AC Milan for half of his City fee after 18 months in the Premier League and won a Serie A winner's medal in his first season in Italy.

“At Milan, I was surrounded by great players; it wasn't the same at City," the 34-year-old Sivasspor forward explained to FourFourTwo.

If he had had his way, though, Robinho would never have made his City move in the first place.

“My main goal was to move to Chelsea – Big Phil [Scolari] had said I could make the difference for him as his squad, according to him, was not creative enough," he said.

“But Real Madrid had fallen out with Chelsea – they didn't like them selling shirts with my name on before the deal had been done. I am pretty sure that this error was one of the main reasons why the transfer failed, as it was a matter of pride for Real Madrid.

“And they were also reluctant to let me move to a club that was playing in the Champions League the same season – Chelsea were, but City weren't.

“I moved to a great club and they welcomed me in the best way. I had one-and-a-half years of joy in Manchester, despite the city being a lot colder than Madrid!"