Pablo Zabaleta hopes that Manchester City refrain from offloading record signing Robinho in the January transfer window.

Barcelona's interest in the forward has been well documented, and the Spanish champions may buy the former Real Madrid star after Christmas.

Robinho is set to make his return to City's first team on Saturday as Mark Hughes' men take on Hull. The Brazilian forward has been out of action for almost three months due to an ankle problem.

Zabaleta has now declared that the City squad would prefer that Robinho stay to lead the charge for Champions League football next season.

Full-back Zabaleta said: "I think it's vital that Robinho stays with Man City. He is a player who can give us more quality and he means a lot to his team-mates.

"There is no problem with him or with the other players."

Robinho had a decent debut season with the Sky Blues, scoring 15 goals last term, but Zabeleta insists that the striker can better that tally if he can steer clear of injury.

Zab added: "I think he can do even better. Naturally, you always expect more from a player like him because there's a reason why he cost more than £30m.

"But I hope we can enjoy having him with us for a long time. The truth is, we will achieve our goals faster as a club with players like Robinho here."