Manchester City has grabbed the spotlight on the eve of the Premier League season, with Robinho named in its 25-man squad list Friday and Mario Balotelli flying in for a medical. Coach Roberto Mancini, who also looks like selling Craig Bellamy and Stephen Ireland in the next few days and buying James Milner from Aston Villa, was his usual calm self at a news conference despite all the comings and goings. He said Robinho was in his 25-man squad and added he would sit down with the unsettled Brazil striker next week to thrash out his future. Robinho has made no secret of the fact he wants to stay with Brazilian club Santos, where he has been on loan since January, after an unhappy spell at Eastlands. This season the Premier League has imposed a 25-man limit on squads, with eight “home-grown” players included in that number. That is putting extra pressure on coaches who are being forced to let some players leave. Robinho, the most expensive signing in British soccer after joining for 32.5 million pounds ($50.91 million) from Real Madrid almost two years ago, reluctantly returned to Manchester Thursday to begin training but will not feature for City's difficult trip to Tottenham Hotspur Saturday. “He only arrived back yesterday and is tired from the World Cup and other games he's been playing,” said Mancini. “But he's on my list and I will talk to him next week about the situation.” Even though Robinho favors a return to Santos, the Brazilians do not have the money for a permanent transfer and he could be used as a bargaining tool in the deal to bring Balotelli from Inter Milan.
