If you have been listening to Roberto Mancini or Shay Given of late, you might think there is still life in Robinho's City career.

But if, on the other hand, you've been listening to Brazil coach Dunga, you probably think the opposite.

The Robinho question, it seems, just won't go away.

It is five weeks since City's £32.5m record signing packed his things to return home and start a five-month loan spell at Santos.

The move has revitalised him. He was on top form, scoring one and making one, as Brazil beat the Republic of Ireland 2-0 at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday. And his national boss is sure he knows why.

"Robinho is a lot happier now that he has left Manchester City and gone back to Brazil with Santos," Dunga said afterwards. "You can see that he is happy again."

But the Brazilian playmaker is under contract at Eastlands until 2013. And there's no way Santos could afford to buy him back when his loan spell ends.

So, as things stand, Robinho will be on his way back to the Blues after this summer's World Cup.

That's despite the fact that he has cleared out his house in Manchester, shipped his possessions back to Brazil and publicly criticised Mancini's tactics.

Robinho actions

Those are hardly the actions of a man who believes he will be playing for Mancini next season.

Yet City's Irish keeper Given, on the receiving end of Robinho's magic on Tuesday, suggested that the Brazilian may yet have something to offer at Eastlands.

"He wasn't playing enough at City, to be honest," Given said. "He's gone back to Santos to play and prepare for the World Cup. Hopefully, he does well there and does well at the World Cup - and he'll come back to us a better player.

"I just think he was out a long time with injury and he wasn't getting his match sharpness back.

"Playing out in Brazil will sharpen him up for the World Cup - and in the long term, it will be of benefit to City."

Mancini said pretty much the same thing when Robinho exited Eastlands at the end of January.

The 26-year-old had signed off by finally breaking his duck for the season, scoring in the 4-2 FA Cup fourth-round victory at Scunthorpe.

"He will come back here after the five months," said Mancini following Robinho's departure. "He still has a career at Manchester City.

"I think he's a good player. I'm sorry he's gone to Santos but it's important he gets regular football ahead of the World Cup."

That need to be playing regularly was a key factor in Robinho's decision to head back to Brazil.

But he never really settled in England following his surprise transfer-deadline day move from Real Madrid in September 2008.

Former City assistant boss Mark Bowen said as much in the wake of Robinho's loan move to Santos.

Style

"There is no doubting that if and when he went to another league, or back to Brazil, it would be a different style of football and it would suit him better," Bowen said.

And so it has proved. Robinho scored the winner on his Santos debut against Sao Paulo.

And since his return to Brazil, Santos have won six games in a row - part of a nine-match winning streak in total that has put them four points clear at the top of the Sao Paulo state championship.

No one ever doubted his ability. For all the criticism he copped over his performances away from home, he was City's top scorer last season.

But an ankle injury picked up on international duty with Brazil in September kept him out of action for nearly three months - and perhaps gave him a little too much time to think of home.

Certainly after his return to action against Hull at the end of November, he showed flashes of brilliance all too rarely.

His non-performance in the 3-0 capitulation at Tottenham shortly before Mark Hughes' sacking suggested his heart was elsewhere.

A change of manager offered the chance of a new start. But Robinho was inept for Mancini in a 2-0 defeat at Everton in mid-January - coming on as an early substitute, only to be dragged off after an hour.

That display suggested that Robinho and City just don't go together any more, whoever the boss is.

Even if Mancini were to be replaced in the summer it is hard to see how any future manager at Eastlands could get the best out of the Brazilian.

But perhaps, as Given and Mancini have suggested, the time spent back in Brazil will do Robinho good.

Maybe it will inspire him to put in a starring performance at this summer's World Cup.

And perhaps, off the back of that, he will decide he fancies another crack at the Premier League with City.

At the start of December, Robinho gave an interview to the BBC's Football Focus stating that he hoped to stay at City for 10 years. Within seven weeks, he had gone to Santos.

His performance on Tuesday night suggested it was the right move for him. Sadly, it was the clearest sign yet that this playmaker of undoubted talent may have to write off his time at City to achieve his true potential.

Do you think Robinho has a future at City? Have your say.