Craig Bellamy names Robinho as most problematic player he worked with

Craig Bellamy named Brazil superstar Robinho as the most problematic player he worked with during his career.

The pair played together at Manchester City after the Brazilian signed for £32.5million from Real Madrid in a British record deal in September 2008, but failed to live up to expectation during his time in England.

Robinho scored 14 Premier League goals in his first season, but only made 10 appearances in the next campaign, before moving to Santos on loan.

And Bellamy told The Debate he was frustrated by the attitude of a player who made 100 appearances for Brazil.

He said: "The one player – and I quite liked him as a person at times – was Robinho, with all the ability he had, which was astonishing at times.

"He just let me down. I just felt he was such a top player, but, the feeling I had was he was too big for Man City at that time – and us players who were with him were lucky to be with him.

"That was a real disappointment for me."

Diego Costa’s unwillingness to return to Chelsea has made headlines in recent days and Bellamy was asked for his definition of a "problem player".

He replied: "The only problems I ever really had with a player was professionalism; what time he came in, how he trained, how serious he took it, how he played.

"Does he do everything right to give himself the best opportunity to be the best player he can on the Saturday?

"If I found a certain player was not, I found it disrespectful towards myself. I saw players with miles better ability, but I see them at the same time abusing what they had.

"There were times when I know they were out on a Tuesday night and they’d come in Wednesday to training and it was just not an effort and then on Thursday it was a knock-on effect.

"As players, when you see that… I found it heartbreaking."

(c) Sky News 2017: Craig Bellamy names Robinho as most problematic player he worked with