Robbie comments to be taken with a pinch of salt

Football without scurrilous transfer gossip, it's fair enough to say, would prove a little less titillating. It's rarely the reason a youngster might engage with a club initially, or what keeps us going. It's not the smell of Bovril wafting over the 'terraces' or your favourite No.9 bagging a late winner, but on the slow news days a certain amount of joy can be had from feasting on the latest batch of completely unfounded rumours, a sort of guilt-free curtain-twitching via national press.

With that in mind, it would probably be hypocritical of us to get hot under the collar about constant tales linking our most high-profile player with a move back to Spain, especially as our pre-match routines will almost certainly involve passing mentions of the likes of Franck Ribery, Philipp Lahm and Yaya Toure. The upping of the media-wide view that the Brazilian is on his way, however, seems to be built on little substance, moreso the absence of the diminutive winger from the side due to injury, and the form of Craig Bellamy.

What can't be denied is that Barcelona are one of the biggest and greatest clubs in world football. They're on a completely different level to ourselves, perhaps always will be. That shouldn't be taken as a slant on us, or needless negativity, we're a rung or two down the ladder from the likes of Liverpool, United, Chelsea and Arsenal, and they themselves aren't on the level of the Catalan giants. When Barca want a player, be you anyone else barring perhaps their biggest domestic rival, they get their man.

Where Robinho would fit into the current Barcelona setup isn't altogether obvious. This is a team whose front three scored a century of goals last season and displayed some of the most breathtaking football you could care to see. That forward-line has undergone some surgery this summer, with the prolific Samuel Eto'o moving to Inter in a perplexing swap-deal involving the marmite-like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but they remain a supreme force.

Early signs are that the Swede is settling in well, but despite hitting a run during which the goals have dried up, the 'third' great of their attack, assuming Messi is an untouchable, Thierry Henry still strikes me as being a valuable cog in the Barca machine. I don't buy the oft-heard opinion that he's not the player he was. If anything, the player of the last two years has been a better all-round footballer, though perhaps not as impulsive and lightening-fast as in his first seven seasons at Arsenal, which yielded over 200 goals. Either way, i can't see them looking to replace him, or paying big bucks for Robinho to sit him on the bench.

The second reason i have doubts over the genuine nature of Barca's interest revolves around the increasingly-close relationship the two clubs have both been keen to garner in recent months. Garry Cook has been over to meet the top brass at the Nou Camp on a couple of occasions, firstly regards the future of Samuel Eto'o, then on a 'relationship-building exercise', and i expect in order to arrange this summer's pre-season friendly. Us, privileged to be at least business allies of such a club, them probably hoping we don't outbid them for future targets, at the very least those who run both clubs will have some sort of amicable friendship.

If Laporta and Guardiola had plans to try and sign a player from us i could see no reason why it might involve a three-month long battle of wills via the dailies. If we were dead-set against selling, hopes of harmonious relations between both clubs would surely depend on them taking no to mean just that. If we were open to moving Robinho on then a quiet gentleman's agreement between the heads of both clubs would be a better way of going about affairs.

Comments from the former Madrid man over the last couple of days have been taken to mean that it's pretty much a deal in motion. As we've seen in the past with foreign players, however, interviews conducted abroad can and often do result in a certain amount of mistranslation. Even if that's not the case, i'd struggle to get offended by his alleged words. He'd like to play for Barcelona, is that so surprising, i would, most of us would, i bet every lad kicking a flyaway against a wall would, ditto about wanting to play alongside some of the greatest footballers around today.

Does even speaking of a potential transfer disrespect us, the fans? I really don't think it does. The redtops are paying extra attention to the soundbites, forgetting the parts where he claims his representatives have had no contact with another club, that ultimately it's the business of the two clubs, that he's unavailable for transfer and wants to do his best for City. The rest of it is much ado about nothing.

I'm looking forward to him returning to the squad within the next couple of weeks. He'll have to win his place back, at the moment there are people ahead of him on merit, but he remains no less important to us than ever. Nothing's really changed in that respect, he's our most high-profile player and one capable of scoring goals and winning games. With a stronger spine to the side i expect him be a bit more consistent, i'm sure we all do, but some throwaway comments in the press, or the short-term form of others shouldn't mean we forget that this boy is a special talent.

It could even be said that the fact that someone unsure of a place in our starting XI being linked with a huge move to the greatest club side in world football may in itself be seen as progress. Years of these sort of speculative moves never happening, however, should mean we bat the rumours away without a second thought. Cesc Fabregas is yet to make a humongous move to Spain, likewise Stevie Gerrard, or Didier Drogba. A certain ladyboy might have, but even that came after three summers of posturing.

I see Robinho as being integral to our plans, but at the same time we're in the strange situation of any potential multi-million pound departure not hurting us in the same fashion as it might others. If there comes a time where Mark Hughes decides the deal is in the best interests of the club then i'll trust he knows best. Until mischievous tabloid rumours turn into signatures on dotted lines, though, i'll still wake up pinching myself every morning that Robinho plays for Manchester City.