Robson de Souza (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈʁɔb(i)sõ d(ʒi) ˈsowzɐ]; born 25 January 1984), known as Robinho (Brazilian Portuguese: [ʁɔˈbĩɲu]), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward.
In 1996, at 12 years of age, Robinho was picked by Brazil legend Pelé as his heir apparent and, in 2002, went on to lead Santos to their first Campeonato Brasileiro title since Pelé himself played for the club. Afterwards he went on to win a second title with Santos, two more with Spanish club Real Madrid, and the Italian Serie A title in his first season at Milan. At international level, Robinho has won one Copa América title and two FIFA Confederations Cups with the Brazil national team, and played at two FIFA World Cups.
In 2017, an Italian court convicted Robinho of sexual assault in the 2013 gang rape of a woman at a Milan nightclub. This conviction was upheld by the Milan Court of Appeals, and subsequently upheld by Italy's top court in January 2022. Italy's request for extradition was rejected by Brazil, because the Constitution of Brazil does not allow extradition of Brazilian nationals. In March 2024, Robinho began serving his nine-year prison term for the conviction in Brazil.
Robinho was born in São Vicente, São Paulo State. In his early years, Robinho played a lot of futsal which was responsible for developing his dribbling and acceleration skills. He signed his first professional contract with Santos in 2002 at the age of 18. He made 24 appearances in his debut season and scored one goal as Santos won the 2002 Campeonato Brasileiro. He reached the final of the 2003 Copa Libertadores with Santos, but lost in the final to Boca Juniors. In 2004, Robinho finished with 21 goals in 37 games and led Santos to win another Campeonato Brasileiro.
His form had brought him to the attention of many European clubs in the summer of 2004, but Robinho remained with Santos after the Brazilian club rejected all offers. His form suffered in the 2005 season, however, after his mother, Marina da Silva Souza, was kidnapped by gunmen at her Praia Grande home on 6 November; she was released unharmed six weeks later after a ransom was paid.
Robinho scored nine goals in 12 league games, and his value continued to increase as his talent became more and more apparent to the powers of European football. Santos began to realise it would become increasingly difficult to hold on to their star player. In July 2005, Spanish giants Real Madrid signed Robinho by agreeing to pay a fee equal to 60% of the buyout clause in his contract belonging to Santos (€24 million).
Robinho was given the number 10 shirt for Real Madrid, previously worn by Luís Figo. Robinho made 37 appearances and scored 14 goals in his first season. At the start of the 2006–07 season, Robinho spent much of the first few months of the season selected as a substitute by manager Fabio Capello, even after being Man of the Match in the first Clásico against Barcelona that year. Only after the winter break did Robinho find himself in the starting XI, later playing a crucial role as Real Madrid won their 30th La Liga title that year. The title was the third league championship of his career.
Capello was subsequently fired, however, and Bernd Schuster was appointed as head coach of Real Madrid. Robinho finished with 11 league goals and eight assists for Madrid in the 2007–08 La Liga season, as well as four goals during Real Madrid's Champions League campaign. Robinho then got injured at the beginning of the second half of the season. He did not recover fully enough to help Madrid against Roma in the Champions League. The week before, however, Robinho saved Real Madrid's La Liga title hopes with a two-goal performance on 3 March 2008 as Madrid defeated Recreativo de Huelva away from home. That game kept a resurgent Barcelona at bay and ultimately secured Real Madrid's 31st league title and Robinho's fourth.
Robinho was Real Madrid's third-highest scorer during his Madrid years, behind strikers Raúl and Ruud van Nistelrooy. He was also the player with the second-most assists, behind Guti, and the only Madrid player, along with goalkeeper Iker Casillas, to finish in the top ten of the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations for 2007–08.
Real Madrid president Ramón Calderón had promised to negotiate a new contract with Robinho at the midpoint of the 2007–08 season, which never materialised. Calderón, however, insisted talks would occur in the summer; again Calderón went back on his word. Robinho subsequently revealed talks never began because Madrid hoped to use him as part of the deal to bring Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid in the summer of 2008. After the failed move for Ronaldo, Madrid finally attempted to negotiate a new contract with Robinho, which he rejected and led to him pursuing a transfer to Chelsea.
On 1 September 2008, the final day of the Premier League summer transfer window, Robinho completed a €41–42 million (£32.5M) move to Manchester City on a four-year deal. This occurred on the same day the club was bought out by the Arab investment company Abu Dhabi United Group.
Robinho had previously been linked with a transfer to Chelsea, and he had emphasised his desire to play for the London club up to the eve of the transfer. On 27 August, Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon said that the club were "confident" that the transaction would go through, and Madrid had also given their consent for the player to leave. Robinho's expectancy to move to Chelsea was such that upon signing for Manchester City he accidentally stated, "On the last day, Chelsea made a great proposal and I accepted." To this comment, a reporter then replied, "You mean Manchester, right?" "Yeah, Manchester, sorry!" answered Robinho.
In an interview with The Guardian, Robinho stated that Manchester City being a big club and the presence of Brazilian friends Jô and Elano were incentives for him to join the team. He made his team debut and scored his first Premier League goal on 13 September 2008, coincidentally in a 3–1 home defeat to Chelsea.
On 26 October, he scored his first Premier League hat-trick against Stoke City, and he scored his first European goal for Manchester City in a 3–2 UEFA Cup group stage win over Twente on 6 November. He was given the captain's armband for the match against Hull City, due to Richard Dunne's suspension, which ended in a 2–2 draw.
On 19 April, Robinho scored his 13th league goal for Manchester City in the 2–1 win away at Everton on 25 April, City's first away win since 31 August 2008. The following week, he scored his third consecutive goal in three games, against Blackburn Rovers, to help Manchester City to a 3–1 win. Robinho finished the season as City's top goalscorer with 14 and the fourth top scorer in the league.
His second season at Manchester City did not go as well. He missed three months of the season due to injury and only played 12 games in total (ten in the Premier League), and scored one goal (against lower league club Scunthorpe United in the FA Cup). Due to this, he fell down the pecking order and sought a move away from the club in the January transfer window.
On 28 January 2010, Robinho returned to his home club Santos due to moving down the pecking order at Manchester City, joining them on a six-month loan deal. He had publicly stated that at Manchester City he would play every other game, and because of the upcoming World Cup, he wanted to play every game, and so returned to Brazil with Santos after declining a move to São Paulo. On his return to Santos, Robinho scored a backheel against aforementioned admirers São Paulo with five minutes to spare to complete a 2–1 victory for the Peixe. In the final match of his loan deal on 4 August, Robinho helped Santos win the Copa do Brasil. Although Santos lost 2–1 to Vitória, they won the tie 3–2 on aggregate to win the competition for the first time in their history. Shortly afterwards, Robinho stated that he wanted to remain with Santos rather than return to England. Manchester City, however, refused to extend the loan deal and Santos failed to make a transfer bid.