Brazilian star Robinho signed for Serie A giants AC Milan on Tuesday on a four-year contract for 18 million euros from English Premier League side Manchester City where he had an unhappy two-year spell.
“We paid 18 million euros plus bonuses,” said club director Adriano Galliani.
The 26-year-old was a shock signing two years ago by City for £32.5 million but fell out of favour soon after Roberto Mancini took over as manager last season.
He was loaned out to Brazilian side Santos last January, but the Brazilian club were unable to come up with the money to make it a permanent transfer.
“I am really happy to be here,” said Robinho, who won two league titles while at Real Madrid prior to his move to Manchester City where he scored 14 goals in 41 appearances for the English side.
“I am delighted to have been given this opportunity and I want to prove my worth.
“My ambition is to play well and to help Milan regain the scudetto (the title),” added Robinho, who was a much sought after target of Milan president Silvio Berlusconi.
Robinho, who had an impressive World Cup finals scoring twice as Brazil exited in the quarter-finals at the hands of the Netherlands, is the second big name signing by Milan in the last few days after taking Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a one-year loan from Barcelona with the option to make it a permanent move at the end of that spell for 24 million euros.
Robinho, who starred for Brazil in their 2007 Copa America victory topscoring with six goals, will add to what Ibrahimovic had already described as “on paper the best strikeforce in the world” with Brazilian duo Ronaldinho and Pato already there.
Milan have spent big as they launch a concerted effort to halt bitter city rivals Inter’s recent domination which climaxed with the domestic double - taking their fifth successive league crown - and the Champions League title last season.
Robinho’s arrival saw the already unhappy 28-year-old striker Marco Borriello gain himself a move to AS Roma after sporting director Daniele Prade came to Milan for talks with the player, who had slammed the decision to bring Ibrahimovic to the club.
No details of the transfer were revealed for Borriello - scorer of five goals in his 10 international appearances - who found the net 14 times last season.
Also leaving the club was veteran Georgian international defender Kakha Kaladze, as the 31-year-old ended his 10 year spell in Milan by joining Serie A rivals Genoa.
Liverpool signed defender Paul Konchesky from Fulham, while Sunderland smashed their transfer record to land Asamoah Gyan and Birmingham made a surprise swoop for Barcelona midfielder Alexander Hleb on the final day of the transfer window.
Reds boss Roy Hodgson had been keen to land left-back Konchesky from his former club since taking over at Anfield in the close-season and he finally got his man on a four-year contract once Finnish striker Lauri Dalla Valle and Swedish winger Alex Kacaniklic agreed their moves in the opposite direction.
That deal, Sunderland’s signing of Rennes star Gyan and Birmingham’s loan move for Hleb took centre-stage as Premier League clubs tried to beat the 1800BST (1700GMT) deadline for registering new signings.
Hleb’s capture represents something of a coup for Birmingham boss Alex McLeish as the former Arsenal player made a good impression on his last spell in the Premier League.
McLeish said: “Hleb is a top quality player. Over the past year or so we have talked about him but with no real belief we could get him.
“We decided to give it a try and towards the end of the window we found out it might be possible.”
A busy day for McLeish also included signing Czech Republic defender Martin Jiranek from Spartak Moscow for an undisclosed fee and Chile winger Jean Beausejour on a three-year contract from Club America in Mexico.
Ghana striker Gyan completed his move to Sunderland for a fee of over £13 million (€15.7 million).
Gyan, 24, agreed a four-year contract with Steve Bruce’s side in a deal which shatters the club’s previous record when they signed Darren Bent from Tottenham for £10 million (€12 million) in 2009.
Liverpool left-back Emiliano Insua joined Galatasaray on a season’s loan, Armand Traore switched from Arsenal to Juventus for the same period and Everton’s Joseph Yobo was allowed to join Fenerbahce on loan.
Tottenham, who reportedly hope to complete a late move for Real Madrid’s Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart, signed Croatia goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa on a season-long loan from Spartak Moscow as cover for injured first-choice Heurelho Gomes.
Manchester United’s England Under-21 midfielder Tom Cleverley joined Wigan on a season-long loan and the Latics also signed Franco Di Santo for an undisclosed fee on a three-year contract from Chelsea.
Argentine striker Di Santo, 21, was unable to make the breakthrough at Chelsea after joining in 2008 and spent last season on loan at Blackburn, where he scored just one league goal.
Wolves bolstered their attacking options by signing veteran striker Marcus Bent, 32, on a four-month loan deal from local rivals Birmingham.
Bolton signed Benfica forward Rodrigo Moreno on a season-long loan, subject to the player receiving international clearance.
The Brazil-born Spain Under-19 international only joined the Portuguese club last month on a five-year deal from Real Madrid.
Blackpool signed DJ Campbell from Leicester on a permanent basis after the striker’s successful loan spell at Bloomfield Road last season.
Seasiders boss Ian Holloway also signed highly-rated young Wycombe winger Matt Phillips from the League Two club for an initial fee of 325,000 pounds (392,000 euros).
Stoke re-signed Senegal midfielder Salif Diao, 33, on a two-year contract and were also said to be trying to tie up deals for Monaco forward Eidur Gudjohnsen, Real Zaragoza winger Jermaine Pennant and Portsmouth midfielder Marc Wilson.
West Brom signed defender Craig Dawson for an undisclosed fee from Rochdale and then loaned the 20-year-old back to the League One club.
Overall spending by Premier League clubs since the end of last season amounted to around £350 million (€423 million), a 22 per cent drop from last year as owners begin to tighten their belts during the current financial downturn.
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