The Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, has contacted Robinho directly in order to convince the player to move to Barcelona. The Brazilian hasn`t really needed a great deal of persuading to convince him that the current European Champions are an attractive proposition, as he has regularly told Dani Alves, his national team mate who plays for Barcelona: he`d love to join the Catalan giants.

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Robinho is approximately one week away from making a full recovery from his injury, but in Barcelona they are reading a great deal into the fact that the player has returned to training with Brazil, rather than with Man City. City are also unhappy that Robinho could even feature for his national team in a friendly on Wednesday - and Barcelona have interpreted this as a positive signal that the player is putting pressure on his Premier League employers.

The two clubs have had a discussion over the player`s future, but as we have reported here previously, City have flatly refused to consider a loan deal and have informed his suitors that, if they want to buy him, Robinho will cost Barcelona around €42 million - or a swap involving Yaya Toure and Xavi Hernandez.

That currently makes any deal in January highly unlikely, but Barcelona will keep pushing for a loan and the stories will continue to surface in the Spanish press, applying pressure on City.