Players Under The Microscope / Mike Norman / 12 September 2008 /

"Mystical" Mike Norman consults his crystal ball to see where Man City's number 10 will fit within Mark Hughes' jigsaw. With the likes of SWP, Elano, Petrov, Jo and Benjani there as well, it's a nice problem to have.

So after all the speculation, Robinho is set to finally pull on a blue shirt and make his debut in the Premiership - though it will be the blue shirt of Manchester City and not the blue of Chelsea as was widely expected just a few week ago. And in a weird twist of fate, the Brazilian will make his debut on Saturday against his summer-long pursuers.

The 'Match Odds' market has Manchester City at [4.5], Chelsea at [1.98], and The Draw at [3.6].

But for many, the Robinho bandwagon is not just about this Saturday, it's about the entire season, what the player can achieve personally and more importantly, what he can achieve for the club.

I remember being sat in a packed stand back in 1995 as another Brazilian, Juninho, was introduced to the Middlesbrough fans amidst a carnival of Samba dancers. The danger then was to get carried away and expect too much too soon from a player who had, like Robinho, never sampled the delights of England previously. Juninho took a good few months to adjust to life in the Premiership before going on to become one of Boro's all time greatest players. Given time, Robinho is certainly good enough to have a similar impact at Eastlands.

What Robinho instantly gives City is an array of attacking options that most Premiership clubs would die for. He can play on the left wing, alongside a target man or just behind a striker - options that will prove invaluable to Mark Hughes as they season progresses.

Yet some people will argue that the three positions mentioned above are already catered for within the Manchester City squad. On the left they have the excellent Martin Petrov, who had a wonderful debut season in the Premiership last year and looks integral to the system City like to play. In attack they have Benjani, Daniel Sturridge, Felipe Caicedo, Darius Vassell, the jinxed Valeri Bojinov and Robinho's compatriot Jo, while another Brazilian, Elano, is adapt at playing just behind a striker.

One thing is for certain however, and that is that you are not going to pay in excess of £30m for Robinho and leave him out of the team. So which first team regular will be sacrificed? The answer is probably no-one.

City can now adopt a rotation system similar to that of neighbours Manchester United, playing three or four out of Petrov, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Robinho, Elano and Jo at any one time and benefit greatly from giving one or two a rest occasionally. United were extremely successful last season doing the same, rotating wingers, attackers and strikers with regularity (Giggs, Nani, Tevez, Ronaldo and Rooney). If it worked for United then why not for City?

Of course, Robinho will be seen as the linchpin of the team now, and rightly so given his ability and reputation, but he must be allowed the time to adjust to life in England and the Premiership. The signs are that he will be thrust straight into the action and asked to show his worth immediately - Hughes said recently that he likes to put new players into the team and get them "assimilated as quickly as possible". I'm not certain this is the best way, but only time will tell.

It's safe to assume that Robinho will be involved at some stage on Saturday given that City funded a private jet to fly him back from international duty. If you leave a request up in the 'First Goalscorer' market, you will probably get matched at around [14.0] if you think he will make a dream start.

In the longer term, Robinho is available at [75.0] to finish as the Premiership's top goalscorer. Throughout his club and international career he has averaged around a goal every three games, and while this is nowhere near good enough to finish as the top marksman this season, a slight improvement on that ratio will see him net around 15 times, making his price of [10.0] in the 'Top Goalscorer - Top 4' market just a tad interesting.

As for City, well it's onwards and upwards for them and they can be backed at [2.02] for a top six finish this season (surely the minimum requirement given their new status). They are the current favourites at [3.9] in the 'Winner w/o Big 4' market - a price that will be long gone in January when they get chance to spend the Abu Dhabi Group's loose change.

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