Barcelona denies Manchester United Robinho’s transfer

Barcelona’s secretary Txiki Begiristain has played down all speculation linking the European champions with a move to sign Manchester City forward Robinho.

The Brazilian is reportedly unsettled in England and pushing for a transfer from Eastlands in January, although those rumours were today quashed by City’s executive chairman Garry Cook.

City are currently preparing for Thursday’s friendly against the UAE national side in Abu Dhabi, and the arrival of a Barcelona delegation in the Gulf state has increased speculation over Robinho’s future.

But he insisted that talk of meeting City representatives is premature and revealed a possible bid for Robinho has not been a topic of discussion between himself and Barca coach Pep Guardiola.

“We won’t be meeting with City,” Begiristain told the club’s website.

“There’s a prior stage missing, which is a meeting between Guardiola and me. Once the decision has been taken, we will follow the strategy for any signing.

“This meeting – between the manager and the technical secretary – hasn’t taken place yet.

“So we’re going to see the City match and that’s all.”

Mark Hughes insists that talk of Robinho being unsettled is mischief-making and the City boss is hoping to have his record signing back from injury for the match at Liverpool on November 21.