Scolari was in the early days of his short stint in charge of the Blues when he tried to bring the flamboyant Brazilian to Stamford Bridge, but with time running out for the forward to seal his exit from Real Madrid it was newly-rich Manchester City who won the race.

It cost the Eastlands club a British record £32.5million, but it was a fee Scolari would gladly have sanctioned as Chelsea frequently struggled for flair during his tenure - a failing which ultimately cost him him his job.

Robinho will finally get the chance to strut his stuff in front of the Chelsea faithful when Mark Hughes' side visit the capital tomorrow, while Scolari's successor will also be reunited with a player he narrowly missed out on in his last spell in club management.

"We have our own strikers who are doing very well at the moment, but Robinho is a very attractive player," said Hiddink.

"In fact, I had the plan when I managed PSV Eindhoven to sign him and I went to meet him in Brazil. We were very close to a deal.

"We had the same plan we had with Romario before him and the same plan we also had with Ronaldo at PSV.

"The idea is that before going to the big leagues - which are Premier League and Spanish league - it's good to go to another league where they can get used to European football on a different level.

"We were very close but at the last moment Real Madrid came in and we were out of it."

Hiddink believes that Robinho is a more varied player to his two compatriots who went on to take European football by storm and is well aware of the all-round threat the former Santos man poses.

"At the time I met him, which was many years ago, he wanted to go to Europe and play at a high level and he knew of the examples of Romario and Ronaldo," he said.

"But he's a different player to those two. When I saw him play several times in Brazil he used more space. He can play from the left, from the centre, from the right.

"Romario and Ronaldo are more specific, they are pumas who wait at the last for the kill. Robinho is a little bit different compared to them and it's difficult to stop those kind of players."

Asked about whether Robinho was right to move to Manchester, Hiddink remained cautious, insisting that he was unsure whether there was ever a straight choice between Eastlands and Stamford Bridge.

He did, though, have a general word of caution for players who may be tempted to sign for clubs offering exorbitant sums.

"I don't know if he had the possibility of coming here, it's difficult for to judge yes or no on that," said the Dutchman.

"Manchester City have a lot of plans so let's see what the future brings.

"(But) players must choose for their career and their agent also has the responsibility to pick out a good club for their career. They must not always pick out the club with more money than other clubs."