Richard Dunne was at Manchester City when the club's Abu Dhabi owners arrived in 2008
(Image credit: Getty)
Few Premier League fans will forget the utter disbelief caused by the announcement that Manchester City had been taken over by super rich Abi Dhabi owners in 2008.
Their new overlords promised to spend big as a new era dawned for a club that had experienced financial troubles only recently. Some exciting names arrived ahead of the 2008-09 campaign, including Jo, Craig Bellamy and Nigel De Jong but, for those already at the club, it was Robinho who caused the biggest stir.
"I think the biggest shock was the first one really – Robinho," says for Manchester City defender Richard Dunne, on behalf of William Hill. "In hindsight, probably looking back, I think that's a player that sort of player that adds the finishing touch to a really strong side. But we didn't have the basis of a top-class team to carry a player of his ability.
Robinho shocked the world when he signed for Manchester City (Image credit: Getty Images)
"If he signed, say, in this era when they're dominating games and they need a little bit of flair, or then he would be the guy to go to. But he helped to improve the standard at a club and he improved the outside opinion of the club. Some people started to look at us a little bit differently.
"Like I say, he probably didn't have the back up in squad was to really show his full, full range of talents and skill, but that's why it's probably the strangest one because we probably needed to start somewhere else rather than bringing in that superstar straightaway."
While Robinho reportedly hated the English weather and refused to travel to away matches, Dunne confirms he was actually a great team-mate until he left the club in 2010.
"He was brilliant," confirms the Irishman to FourFourTwo. "He was he was training every day. He got involved with everyone. He was obviously closer to the Brazilian lads that we had at the time, but he was no way big-headed at all.
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"He was there and he was enjoying himself and playing with the rest of the group. He'd obviously come from Real Madrid with a huge price tag and huge expectations but didn't seem to let it bother him. He just seemed like a normal guy – just happy to be playing football."
Ed is a staff writer at FourFourTwo, working across the magazine and website. A German speaker, he’s been working as a football reporter in Berlin since 2015, predominantly covering the Bundesliga and Germany's national team. Favourite FFT features include an exclusive interview with Jude Bellingham following the youngster’s move to Borussia Dortmund in 2020, a history of the Berlin Derby since the fall of the Wall and a celebration of Kevin Keegan’s playing career.
