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Chelsea missed out on the chance to sign Robinho from Real Madrid back in 2008 because the Blues started selling shirts with his name on before the deal went through, according to the Brazilian playmaker.
City swooped with a late £32.5 million bid to snap up Robinho ahead of Chelsea as the first major signing of their new era under owners Abu Dhabi United Group, per BBC Sport.
Then-Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari was reportedly left "fuming" having missed out on signing the Brazil international, and Robinho has revealed Chelsea's impatience and poor relationship with Real caused the deal to break down, per FourFourTwo (via The Sun's Gary Carter):
My goal was to move to Chelsea—Big Phil [Scolari] said I could make the difference for him as his squad, according to him, was not creative enough.