There was once a time when Robinho was viewed as the successor to Pele.

When the Brazilian burst onto the scene with Santos in the early 2000s, Barcelona, AC Milan and Bayern Munich were all among his suitors.

And it’s not hard to see why when you realise Robinho had already received enormous praise from Pele himself.

“Robinho can surpass my own achievements and we have to thank God that another Pele has landed on Santos,” the Brazil legend said, per Goal.

It was Real Madrid who would end up ‘winning’ the race to sign Robinho, paying €30 million to sign him in 2005, but what followed was a huge disappointment.

The Brazilian won two La Liga titles at the Bernabeu but he never managed to fulfil his potential and left for Manchester City in 2008.

It was a move that prompted a scathing assessment from Pele, the same man who had once given Robinho a glowing endorsement.

“Chelsea are lucky,” Pele said after the Blues missed out on the striker. “This boy needs some serious counselling. In my view he has been badly advised."

Robinho now plays for Atletico Mineiro

Robinho would play in Italy, with AC Milan, and China before eventually landing at Brazilian outfit Atletico Mineiro in 2016.

Now 33, we’re left to reflect on a career that could have been really, really special.

Robinho is struggling to make a mark even in his home country, scoring four goals in 28 appearances this season, per WhoScored.

Robinho angered Chapecoense players

Yet it would still seem as if the former Real striker feels he’s above the competition, for he frustrated Chapecoense’s players following an act of showboating on Thursday.

There was one moment where Robinho proceeded to crouch down with the ball at his feet, staring into his opponent’s eyes.

And Chapecoense’s players didn’t like it one bit.

It's been widely reported that Robinho insulted Chapecoense's number five by asking him where he played.

Robinho's Man City debut 

Man City should have realised Robinho perhaps wouldn’t work out in the Premier League following his debut.

Robinho lined up against Portsmouth but was left in disbelief when he saw the size of the opponents.

“We were positioned in the tunnel and their defence was Sylvain Distin and Sol Campbell, one of the midfielders was Bouba Diop, and there was Peter Crouch in the attack,” former Man City striker Jo told ESPN Brasil. “It was almost a team only of giants.

“Then Robinho looked at the guys and said to me, ‘F***, Jô, are we going to play rugby? Look at the size of the guys’ (laughs).”

He never was cut out to make it at the top, was he?