LONDON: - Hours after being snubbed by Kaka, Manchester City, the world's richest football club, suffered another embarrassing blow.

Robinho, City's British-record signing, stormed out of their morale-building camp in Tenerife, Spain, and left for Brazil.

That forced an emergency meeting yesterday at City, with officials considering travelling to Brazil to hunt down the £34.2million (S$75.2 million) star.

But Robinho denied reports of a rift: 'I needed to return to Brazil because of a family matter. I will return to the club and hope to sort this out as soon as possible.

'I feel it is important to underline that I did not return to Brazil because of the Kaka deal.'

But all City executive chairman Gary Cook would say was: 'It is a breach of club discipline.'

There were several explanations for Robinho's shocking move.

Some reports said he returned home to celebrate his 25th birthday on Sunday with his family, despite having been refused permission by manager Mark Hughes.

'There is no game on at the weekend and Robinho needs to take care of his son's passport,' Evandro, who claims to be the player's security guard, told ESPN Brazil.

But the most worrying claim was that the striker was frustrated by City's lack of progress on the pitch. The failure to sign Kaka could have been the final straw.

The pair held a phone conversation on Monday, though it is unclear whether their discussions were related to Kaka's snub or Robinho's decision to fly home.

Despite making an impressive start to his career at Eastlands - Robinho has scored 11 goals in 16 League games to date - he has often looked frustrated. Last month, he escaped punishment after accusing teammates of having the 'mentality of a small side'.

Despite the setbacks, City, backed by the £15 billion fortune of Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mansour, will continue to look for top players. 'We've got clear plans, we are not going to stop,' said Cook.

But their willingness to pay £100 million for Kaka will make signing stars of similar stature even more expensive.

Bayern Munich yesterday warned City to stay away from their inspirational midfielder Franck Ribery. Team manager Uli Hoeness said it would take £150million (S$297 million) 'to even start thinking about it'.