Chelsea's mistake in putting Robinho shirts on sale before he was signed was largely responsible for Real Madrid stopping a transfer to Stamford Bridge from going through, according to the Brazil forward.

Robinho, who ended up moving to Manchester City for a British-record fee of £34.2million, said the online offer of shirts bearing his name angered the Spanish club and made the deal all but impossible. "Of course, my goal was to go to Chelsea," Robinho said after arriving in Brazil for World Cup qualifiers. "But the mistake by Chelsea to put my name on the jersey without me having signed anything dented Real Madrid's pride."

Chelsea called the sale of the jerseys a "regrettable accident by an external supplier which was rectified as soon as it was brought to our attention and not a single shirt was sold". However Robinho said the incident only intensified the fighting between the rival clubs and added another obstacle to the negotiations.

Robinho said Manchester City eventually came up with a better offer than Chelsea in the final minutes of the European transfer window and he decided to take it. "I'm happy with the move, I'm going to a big club too," he said. "It hasn't won many titles recently, but I'm part of a project that is just starting and I expect to win many titles there."

Robinho, who will join countrymen Jo and Elano at Eastlands, said Real Madrid never intended to keep him and even tried to use him to sign Cristiano Ronaldo earlier this year. "Real Madrid didn't want me to stay at the time, so there is no reason I should've wanted to stay now.

"I wanted to leave without having to fight, but that wasn't possible because the club was desperate because it couldn't sign anybody."

The 24-year-old denied claims by Ramon Calderon, the Real President, that he cried and begged to let him go. "I only cried when he didn't let me go to the Olympics, I was very upset," he said. "[This time] I only told him the truth, that I didn't want to stay, but he didn't listen to me because he was desperate for not being able to sign anybody."

Pele criticized Robinho for the way he handled the transfer, but he responded by saying that the Brazil legend "maybe would have done the same thing if he was in my situation."

Robinho went through a similar ordeal when he left Santos for Real Madrid in 2005, and also had to fight for his release. "Unfortunately things like this happens," he said. "Of course I don't want to fight and have people criticizing me, saying I'm not professional. But unfortunately it has happened twice."