No carping about Kaka coup

I think maybe Kaka will say no. But I won't be surprised if he says. So much money.

When will the football bubble burst?

I would love to have owners with the financial prowess of Man city. Somehow I think Carlisle might be a bit too much of a challenge for them.

The sheer scale of the bids is frightening.

If I was a city fan my one concern would be, what happens when the new owners get bored of their new toy?

It sounds good in the short term, but if Sheik pulls out of the club, what next? Players on the type of wages being banded around eastlands would kill your club.

I think i'll stick to real football. A local club with English players and a sound financial footing thank you very much.

Come on Phil. He's arriving at his prime age so if he comes to City he's coming for money not medals. The arrival of Robinho has proved that despite one man's talent you nee a balanced team, something that Hughsey is still no where near providing us with. The money and wages are obscene and if the Arabs get fed up in a couple of years whose going to take all the expense on? Signing Kaka to save us from relegation, I thought football couldn't suprise me any more.

Afternoon Phil,

This to me is like a real life version of Champ Mangager! When i used to play and id get a massive transfer budget lets be honest we all did it... i went and looked for the best attacking players about and let the defence sort itself out!

Im not saying City won't go and improve their defence because they do really need to but it looks like its another case of the Galatico's who we all know fell apart as a major European threat when Makelele left and wasn't replaced!

To all those who don't like what Man City are doing unfortunately its tough luck and all you can do is sit back and enjoy the likes of Robinho and potentially Kaka.

If City are successful the major losers are clubs like Villa, Tottenham and Everton. Those are all clubs who havve once harboured thoughts of playing Champions league football. (which applies to Villa this year!) It is hard enough with with the so called big 4 at the moment but throw an even bigger club into the mix and what chance do they have?!

Completely Agree with you, maybe not the smartest signing in terms of team balance, however rediculous transfers have been going on alot longer than the Sheikhs have been at city. Man City are just playing a game that others created.

Looking forward to the abuse starting for this article as usual Phil

I actually thought your comment about Icing and Cake was spot on - It's like putting a Ferrari badge on 1972 Ford Cortina.

100m though mate come on, even city fans must think that theres better options (financially anyway). If you gave the likes of Everton 100m, david moyes could build a league winning team. Here city are going to blow it on one player.

Imagine one bad injury to Kaka, thats 100m down the pan. Bad investment.

In my opinion, City could use that 100m and buy 5 or 6 players to build the squad to challenge for honours. One man doesnt make a team.

Totally agree with you that this move doesn't make much sense in football terms. Obviously Kaka will improve the team, but attack is not their weakness.

It's got to be demoralising for the dressing room, massive wage imparity there. Really feel for Shaun Wright-Phillips too, he might as well have stayed at Chelsea.

Don't really care about the transfer fee it's not my money. (Infact it's probably good for the economy to have these big spenders about)

Phil, I'm curious as to why there's so much debate on this story before any deal happens. The media have given so many sides to the story, so many different figures for fees, wages, and so on that it seems churlish to discuss it until a deal is done.

City certainly have financial clout, but we already knew that. When they sign Kaka, or someone of his stature, then it's time to debate whether football has gone mad. Until then, I'm with the point of view, expressed well here https://www.sportwithoutspin.com/football090114kakacity, that there is far too much speculation through which to wade to start saying anything...

I would rather Man City spend £107M on a player than our government spending £1.7 Billion on a new type of missile platform!

I was disappointed by Wenger's comments on the matter, whinging on about living within their means. I recall FIFA looking into introducing some rule to prevent clubs spending more than they earn too, effectively freezing football as it currently is and ending any hope of meaningful competition.

That would be terrible. Living within your means is fine if you're an established, successful club with a huge fanbase and plenty of lucrative revenue streams. But if you're a smaller club wanting to challenge the status quo you have to overstretch. Like in any business, you must speculate to accumulate. In football that means spending enormous sums if money.

One of the fascinating things about football is the rise and fall of clubs. Look at Leeds. Look at Blackburn. Look at Gretna. And on every occasion when the order has been threatened or overturned it has been because someone put their hand in their pocket.

Football needs to have the uncertainty and pure theatre that these madcap rich owners bring as much as it needs solid, dependable clubs like Wigan. Perhaps more so. They enable the fans of ANY club to dream of one day beating the big boys. Hoffenheim is a great example - a non entity is now challenging for the Bundesliga. Dreams are what football is based on. Take away the silly money and the dreams become impossible.

I actually hope City fall flat on their face and I do find the levels of money talked about obscene. But I'm still glad it's happening (and am glad a vaguely similar thing happened to my club Hearts recently as the rollercoaster was unforgettable). I will enjoy following this latest football soap opera over the next few years, regardless of the ending.

Good article, I dont think the money being paid between clubs is that over the top. No one was going over board when the Ronaldo to Real deal was being rumoured for £100m. What is immoral and grotesque is his wage. When people in THIS country live in the streets and die because they can’t afford the electric and yet some one can earn £2million a month then we know we live in world of utter madness. On the other hand assuming he would pay his tax like everyone else £800,000 a month to the local hospital would not go a miss!

It's crazy to watch all this going on from the red half of Manchester. When the big clubs spend the big cash they're usually buying a player that the selling club is happy to move on, or a player who wants to move. Milan don't want to sell. Kaka doesn't want to move. But City are prepared to write a blank cheque to make it happen. That feels like a different deal somehow.

I'm amazed at a transfer policy that goes 'oh, we couldn't get Craig Bellamy, lets have Kaka as our second choice'.

It's going to be a rollercoaster for City fans, but they're used to that. Their blue moon has seen a few false dawns already. I can't see Hughes staying on as manager now though - he's going to be out of his depth coaching and handling the best players in the world.

Scolari to City? City to unveil a new yellow shirt for 2009/2010 season?

Its not so much the 100 million quid thats the issue here. Its 2 things.

1. The fact that his salary will be an outragous 500k a week.

2. The Man City acadamy will go straight out of the window. Kids such as Daniel Sturridge who has a great future ahead of him will never ever make it at Man City cos of the money they will splash out on expensive lavish strikers.

I dont blame Kaka on bit. In fact, Im on 2k a month salary at my current job, and if someone offered me another job with a salary of 10k a month, then I would jump at it without a doubt. I know footballers and the average Joe cannot be compared but even as a footballer I would have signed for Man City if they truly offered me 500k a week.

To me it looks like City have got the icing on before they've even bought the flour. They have so much attaccking talent - Robinho, SWP, Elano, Petrov (one of the best left wingers in the country when fit) and Ireland, who has been their best player this season. They don't need another - scoring goals has not been their problem.

They need a defensive midfielder, and everyone seems to know this except Sparky and the chequebooks.

If Kaka leaves a world-class team, a stable club and regular Champions League football for, basically, a cartload of cah, I will be bitterly, bitterly disappointed in him. He's always seemed like one of the few footballing superstars with a firm grounding in reality. I really am hoping he'll spare me even more disillusionment by staying at AC Milan. Hopefully he does become captain there and has a long, successful and admirable career in Italy rather than being remembered as the fool who left his principles and ambition behind for money.

Just to get in early with a slight defence of Arsene Wenger. I know that you were not directly criticising him Phil, but I'm sure that others will go on to.

Arsene's point is not a pointless, bitter rant against Manchester City, it is the sensible conclusion of a qualified economist. Wenger has criticised Lazio (in the late 90s), Chelsea and Real Madrid of living beyond their means in the past and will no doubt go on to criticise clubs that follow unsustainable business plans in the future. It is totally alien to his philosophy and methodology, not just on football but on life.

Wenger is always quick to point out that he is not against the big spending of Manchester United, because the club still makes sizable profits every year. It has such stroing revenue streams that it can afford to spend £30million per season on players and still make a profit.

Arsenal now have the second highest revenue streams in the Premiership by a small distance, and that only provides around £15million per season to invest in the playing squad.

So you can see how far out of the sustainable business model a club like Chelsea a few years back, or City now are operating.

Not that I'm having a go at City or their fans, but Wenger's points are valid. He questions the validity of it when the average football fan is losing his job and still paying £40 per week for a ticket to a game.

Finally, if anyone even suggests that had the same investment group that purchased City bought Arsenal instead, then Wenger would be making this kind of offer to land arguably the best player in the world.... then they live in a land of such fantasy it is even beyond the wildest dreams of those City fans waking up each morning and wondering if they've dreamt it all......

Wenger would never push the boat so far beyond what is sustainable. See money can get you so far, but true empires are built on principles.

city fans - will Kaka like a relegation battle? i doubt it. if they dont want to concentrate on where they are weak (defence and holding midfield players) they could buy so many good players in those areas for 100m + that will gel together rather than just one player that will break up the team. lets face it kaka will think its his team and it will be like AC milan hierarchy system. not good

phil

great post and i agree with every word

Having Kaka in the premier league would be great.

But just because City can afford £100m doesn't make it right. Take your blinkers off and see it from a wider perspective - it's an obscene use of money.

Moves like this will and should precipitate the introduction of FIFA-wide rules on how much revenue can be spent on players

Pretty much sums it up,Phil. Good piece.It's amusing to see supporters of certain other clubs suddenly develop 'moral' views about football or get concerned about' the future of the game' The zeal of the convert is often very strong and often very entertaining.The reservations regarding the effect on City's immediate future and the possible impact on the other players ,as well as the Academy, are all well-founded and very important. In the end, it's up to the men with the money to make the deal and then Mark Hughes to make it work.Good luck to them .I just have a feeling that if they get him,it may not be enough to solve City's problems if the team isn't strenghtened in defensive midfield and defence.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

"Manchester United were not accused by all and sundry of sliving in football' madhouse when they paid £30m to Leeds United for Rio Ferdinand, almost the same for Juan Sebastian Veron from Lazio, £27m to Everton for Wayne Rooney and £30m to Spurs for Dimitar Berbatov."


20m for robbie keane?

How much for Dossena and Degen?

16.5m for DARREN BENT!

21m for SWP

Any amount of money for marlon marewood?

The list is endless, and yet you focus on Utd.

And, you must have a short memory, as we was accused of "sliving in football' madhouse " when we paid that much for Veron.


Another pro liverpool beeb blog.

Spot on Phil, these kind of things are what makes football amazing, yes kaka may not end up being the right player at the right time for city, but who cares? kaka playing in the prem will be incredible, for both city fans and neutrals. Who would you rather see in the premiership, kaka, or a `safer` option of some journeyman? All of this negativity towards the deal just smacks of jealousy, and in the long run, if the deal goes ahead, it'll create more of the rich folklore which sets football apart from all the other sports.
Who cares whether its fair, just or sensible? football is meant to be entertaining, kaka for the prem!!

Without doubt, the money pouring into the Premier League means that the standard of some of the football is truly amazing.

However, I have concerns regarding the long term including the future of some very famous clubs.

There is no such thing as a free lunch and these super rich people are not putting up this money because they are true fans of these clubs. They will want a return on their investment.

What happens when those people putting money in decide to that they no longer wish to be an owner of the club? Will they just walk away? Will they demand (or could they demand) repayment of all this cash that they are pouring in? Will they accept a loss on the sale of the club?

I would rather have manchester city sign Messi for that amount....As per gettin "world class" defenders who would you suggest Man City to get Phil.....
Its like playin Football Fantasy :-)

Why do people keep saying "It's brilliant because the big four will be broken up and we will have excitement". WRONG! Man City will dominate and it will become the big five or even still remain the big four as Arsenal and there traditional ways of running a club could well be cut adrift as they can't compete finacailly with the others. I remember people saying Chelsea would be good for football because people were fed up of Arsenal-United title races. It turns out people were still bored even after Chelsea. Maybe the likes of Arsenal should give in and find there own billionares then we can have a premiership which has evolved into a billionares version of Football Manager. They can go and buy a load of south americains like us regular joe's do on the game. Oh wait.....

There is one key point to consider. The Premier and Champions League are dominated by an elite number of clubs and it is virtually impossible to break into this ogliopoly, as they themselves drive the rules.
Unless there are significant changes by the governing bodies to ensure that these "top" clubs cannot always pick up the top players, the only way to break in will be through buying power.
Villa look good this year, but I am sure that their key players will be picked off at the end of the season, by these so called to clubs.
As a City fan I am also worried about the implications of taking such huge risks, but I am also tired of taking a back seat. As Alan Shearer said, the goal of every player is to win something - which means that being an also ran, in other words the rest of the Premiership (including Wigan), is not an acceptable goal. Even if City spend 500 million on 10 players and make a sustainable assault to the top, then the investment will be worth it. As you pointed out, our neighbours from Salford have invested heavily to maintain their position. Mind you, if this all works out one of the top 4 will be squealing and very loudly at that !!!

Very similar to Martin Samuel's article in Daily Mail yesterday (not as good though, as you'd expect seeing as he's on £400k per year!).

I don't think you can compare Man Utd spending big money on Veron, Rooney and co. with City spending all this money on Kaka.

The big bucks that Man U have spent over the years have mostly come from the money the club generates from gates, sponsorship, merchandise and TV revenue. They are one of the biggest clubs in the world, so they can afford to pay for the best players...the club spent the money it earnt, it didn't get vast sums of cash from oil-barons to get where it is.

The likes of Man City and Chelsea on the other hand have become billionaire's playthings - their super-rich owners are playing a multi-million pound game of fantasy football! These clubs could never otherwise attract the likes of Kaka.

If David Bentley is worth £15 million and Robbie Keane £20 million, then Kaka is worth £100 million and Messi £200 million. British fans seem to have a threshold of valuation, anything under which is deemed good business, regardless of the player in question.

There is no difference between paying over the odds for average players - an epidemic in the premier league over recent seasons - and paying over the odds for outstanding players; provided you have the money, which city do in abundance.

One thing that every one can agree on (I think) is that the transfer fee of £100+ is ridiculous. At over twice the current record for Zidane it just doesn't represent good business to me.

I mean, they are not even in a bidding war, and it is not like AC Milan publicly slapped the price tag on him before this story came to light. No wonder Milan have said it is up to the player, they can't turn that money down.

I believe they think Kaka will turn down the offer, but it could still back fire if Kaka gets the impression that by accepting the bid the club doesn't want him any more. Unlikely I think though.

It did get me thinking though, about the Real Madrid Galactico era and Perez's theory at the time. He came to the conclusion that the most expensive players actually turned out to be the cheapest, because, with player and club combined, the money they came to generate through sponsors, new fans, shirt sales etc would, over time, repay the inital outlay many times over. Not sure this would work for City though, because, unlike Madrid, they just don't have that romance and mystique about them.

The thing is, though, if they do sign Kaka for £100M and pay him £0.5M per week, what's going to happen next time they go after a world class player? One great player doesn't make a great team so dropping Kaka in amongst City's good but unremarkable squad won't get them into the champion's league.

They're going to have to keep buying and spending on wages. And what is any club going to do if City want to buy their player? Double the price. And what will the player's agent do? Double the salary demands. This sheikh is dizzying wealthy with £15bn in his pocket but once their spending gets over £500M and they're still not winning trophies, what will he do then? Spend more? What happens when he's spent £1bn on his first team. What happens if the recession is a long one and the oil price doesn't recover? Sooner or later he'll get hacked off, bored, whatever and sell the club to Ken Bates for £1.

get over the money thing!! yes there is an economic crisis, and everyone is feeling it, but the sheikh doesnt have any responsibility for that, does he? would people be so annoyed if he instead spent his money on a £400M yacht? or an island? no, instead he's spending his money on something thats causing all of this debate and speculation, which at the end of the day is at least causing just a little bit of excitement in these hard times!

30mil for ferdinand, 30mil for berba and 27mil for rooney or 100+mil for kaka i kno what id rather have.

Phil normaly i agree with you, but this time i cant.

This will have a largely adverse effect on the Premier League! Look at it this way, with Man City spending this much on players.. how will they ever sell them on? This is the point everyone seems to be missing. If they are paying between 80 - 100 million for players, what happens when they decide to sell?

if city sign Kaka, it will be the end of Hughes and also will destablize the footballclub. How can they moan about slightly inflated fees for West ham players etc when they are gonna pay 100m for one player! Any club looking at City buying Kaka will not sell players unless double value, I think he will turn it down anyway I would be ashamed to take that sort of money. As well these sheiks have been in football 5 mins, what happens when they get bored and withdraw the financial backing for players? Kaka on 500k a week? will bankrupt the club in the long term.

If I'm right doesn't Kaka have strong religious beliefs - the decision therefore to come to city would not be about money

CANT YOU JUST WRITE AN ARTICLE WITHOUT SO MANY DAMN LINKS!!!!!!!

its well annoying to read!!

considering most of it is old news!

he is a top, top player, but do man city really need another attacking player, when they're the second highest premier league scorers, but also have one of the worst back fours to be fielded this season (statistically)? That for me spells investment in defensive areas, not something kaka's famous for. And he's only going to be there for a lengthy and worthwhile period, for £100m you hope he's there to stay for good i should think!, if champions league football is attained forthwith, that ain't gonna happen, not unless the defense is bolstered and their attacking play is sometimes consilidated to play a bit more defensively. They have the quality in abundance, not the organization or confidence or strength in depth though.

I was also thinking, Kaka looks a bit like Adam Goldberg in the blogs main picture (the one on the football mainpage), anyone else agree?

Who cares about the real world...?

In the real world I might have more chance with Kerry Katona than Angelina Jolie, but if the latter was offered on a plate what are you gonna do, moan about life not being fair to others?

It's interesting that you mention Leeds in the article but fail to consider what happened to them (or Blackburn for that matter) when they tried to buy success. Jam today eh?

Most City fans I have seen blogging on this subject seem genuinely embarrassed about the whole thing.

Wenger is, as usual, absolutely right.

Could be wrong, but I seem to remember there WAS a fair bit of grumbling around the price tags of Ferdinand, Rooney et al when they happened...people thought they were outragous sums.

This proposed move would certainly raise the bar much higher, but I don't remember people being quiet little lambs beforehand.

I'm a Spurs fan (obviously from the name) and on a personal note I can't wait to see him gracing the Premier League.

Admittedly I agree that one player doesn't make a team and City have really got to look at their defensive frailties. But how much of a bargaining chip is it to say to the likes of Terry, Puyol or Vidic, 'sign for us for x amount of money a week and you get to play alongside the likes of Robinho and Kaka as well'. A forward player wasn't their priority but you can bet if they get Kaka on board there'll be a fair few good, solid defensive-minded players who wouldn't mind signing up as well.

Football fans should be worried, it is terrible for football and makes a mockery of clubs with "normal" budgets and may have taken years to get where they are.
Football is now a plaything for the super rich and the game will lose it's soul and indeed it's way when the rich kids get bored and move onto ventures new.
So sad that a players wages can pay for a hospital wing per week, salary caps must be thought about for the sake of the game, as must foreign imports, a club should always have the majority of their team from their own country, this in the longterm would be great as clubs could have a sense of local pride about them again with players brought through the ranks, may even stop the ever so annoying glory hunters pretending they "support" a team because they are successful/rich.

Spot on Phil. £100m is a naughty amount of money for a player. A quality player i grant you but can he adapt to the physical nature of the premier league, especially when he is going to be targeted by every club he plays against. only time will tell

LFC supporter from India here.
i dont understand why fans of any epl club are cribbing over players like kaka coming to epl and competing.
it would be so great to see the best players competing out in EPL.
so what if man city gets kaka at prices that dont make sense in the real world. well they can afford it.
i am infact looking forward to many such players coming in epl.
and though i dont enjoy seeing manu and chelsea lift the league titles season after season utilizing those strong squads, I would love Liverpool to win the titles against these strong squads and players like c.ronalo, m.essien etc. (i know its going to get more and more difficult to do that)
thus i infact liked it that ronaldo was not off to madrid last summer.
think about it.. likes of ronaldo kaka torres robinho gerrard rooney essien competing day in day out in epl. only player left to get would be messi i guess.
the old school may scoff at this and think epl is becoming a circus..
but i say .. let the good times roll..

Hi this is my first comment.

The thing with this deal as it has been said is 500k is really just too much money for a footballer to be getting a week. It's ridculous in this time of the global recession.
As you mentioned when Man.Utd spent 30mil on the likes of Rio, Veron, Berbatov they were high spending but 100mil is a bit farfetched.
Again mentioned is the lack of balance if i was a City fan i think yeah i'd love Kaka in the team but that'd cause a bigger lack of balance. I'd rather spend 100mil on 4 good players to build a solid team than blow it on one player. A defensive midfielder maybe 1 or two defenders is what city needs not another attacking midfielder.
If Kaka does indeed decide to join i can understand finacially but i think it'd be a backwards step from a title challenging and champions league qualifying team in AC Milan than for a relegation battling Manchester City

I'd bet a lot of money that this is all hoo-haa and he'll stay at Milan. He's said he wants to grow old there so what's all the fuss about? In fact if you can place a bet at the bookies I will be doing it. If I lose money then I'll lose faith in mankind.

football owes something back to the community that builds it.
has football no soul or ethical responsibility.
what message does this move promote in our day and age?
money, power, spin and hype. its just a statement. shame on man city.
can you imagine how much power this has shifted back into the greedy hands of footballers and their agents.
every top-class footballer will now be demanding 200k a week.

sad, sad day.

£100m on one player. The world finally went mad.

No, seriously.

It makes me laugh. You've got extremists in the middle-east who lambast the west for its "decadence" and here's a group from Abu Dhabi who are ready to spend £100m on one player.

Talk about hipocrisy.

ok, Phil, but wouldn't it be better for city to develop their own before going abroad? Facilities, staff, a manager that is not cought up in an impossible scheme and that wuold be allowed to be left alone to manage the team? I'm sure that Sparky would rather have 4 or 5 class players at his disposal rather than one...just think of senna, in the middle of the park, mexes at the back and, mandanda in goal and a regular premiership goal scorer like crouch (yes even him) up front...surely this is better than one player who might not adapt and who'll get injured and miss games? realistically, sparky would rather have that...but does he have the choice?

Good Blog

At the end of the day any football fan kinda dreams of having world class players at the club - one reason we all play FM or do the Fantasy football every week.

But at what cost - Leeds did this - If you went down the list of names (Ok not World Class) of the talent at one stage when Leeds got to the Semi's of the Champions League - Leeds (Or the Chairmen) were living the dream...what happened Failure - and then now about 10th in the 2nd Division.

Where as I would love for all the best players in the world to strut they stuff in the EPL I dont see the figures working.

I lived in England 34 years and now live in America and believe me the wages they pay these pounced up NFL, NHL and NBA Stars is stupid - makes kaka's wage look poor. But this is paid for by Advertising - for 30 seconds of TV space in the Super Bowl companies pay Millions and that is filtered down.

So I have been told...by many blogs - To win the champions league you get 30 Million, and to win the League you get 10 Million and all that goes with it with Sponsership and Branding - so EVEN IF Man City were to win the Champions League and the Prem Title for the next 5 Years they would not get a return on their money and that is for just ONE player.

Anyhow that being said still nice to see Kaka in the Prem

RetiredNo.6 - excellent post.

I think the main reason people should stop carping is because ADUG have the money and are therefore not "living beyond their means".

The Premier League should be celebrating bringing such fantastic talent to the game, adding to the likes of Ronaldo, Robinho, Berbatov, Torres and Kevin Kilbane :o)

Lap it up folks.

Try going to Dalymount Park in Dublin on a miserable, freezing, wet Friday night to see Bohs play Drogheda, then you wouldn't be complaining!

Your league is just getting better and better - just hope it doesn't rub off on your international team - har har!

I suspect that the armchair socialists complaining about "obscene" amounts of money and the plight of the NHS nurses (as if that's the Sheikh's fault) are really supporters of the Smug Four who are about to have their ivory towers rattled.

I'm looking forward to Boro going to Man City in February and to see them play Kaka*.



*sadly, they usually do :(

Why does everyone keep banging on about it being 'great for the Premier League' if Kaka were to sign for one of it's weakest teams?!

I took far more pleasure in watching Robinho shine for Real Madrid when he was surrounded by class players than I do watching him score goals against Wigan, Hull and Boro on cold, wet Saturdays in England.

Surely it is better for the game of football to have it's world class stars spread across the best clubs around Europe instead of all plying their trade for Premiership teams just for the money.

Contrary to popular belief; The English Premier League is not the best domestic league in the world. La Liga is far superior in terms of quality of football and entertainment for spectators. There are no Stoke's or Bolton's in Spain that spend 90 minutes of every away game (and most home games) with 11 men behind the ball. I know football is a results business but that statement alone makes me cringe because it implies that the game of football is now A BUSINESS.

Football should be about flair, skill, passion, LOYALTY and entertainment. Money is ruining the English game but a lot of 'experts' seem to be burying their heads in the sand and trotting out the same tired lines about quality players coming into this country being 'good for our game' no matter what the consequences are for everyone else.

There is more Spanish football than English Premiership games on Sky every week anyway so if you really want to see these stars play, watch them where they are now! You won't regret it!

Kaka should stay where he is because Milan are a legendary club with an incredible history, brilliant support, amazing players and a wonderful stadium. They made him the name he is and, as such, he owes them his peak years which he is now entering.

Man City are an oil-rich joke struggling to fight off relegation from England's top division. Why would one of the best players of this generation want to go there aside from £500k per week in the bank?

It's one of those very strange circumstances where on the surface, business is business, and it all makes perfect sense.
Kaka would act as both the catalyst for regeneration of the City team, and act as an incredible magnet for other players to join City. He would become the face of a growing global brand, and be at the heart of the team on the pitch.
However, even when on the surface it all seems to make sense, it is difficult to remove that nagging feeling that there is something about this deal that is absolutely obscene. The roots upon which the game was built can still be found from the Championship down, but the PL is now an utterly soulless desert of greed. I can't bring myself to contribute to the game any longer, which is a great shame since I have been a season ticket holder for many years. I am now viewed not as a fan, but as a revenue generating mug by the clubs and owners.
All great empires have fallen in history. They all believed it would never happen, and all slowly lost touch with the people who created that empire in the first place. There were 50,000 people at a club rugby game in London 2-3 weeks agoe.......

The whole story is quite amazing and I do not see how Milan can turn down the offer, but even so I can see Kaka turning down City on football grounds.

City have little to offer apart from money, but and if it's a big if, Kaka does sign, then it will be the single most important signing in City's chequered history, because there's every chance that the club will then be able to persuade other big names to sign for them.

That doesn't alter the fact that everything about this transfer is wrong. People are comparing the events of the Kaka deal with those of Chelsea under Abramovitch, but there is no comparison really given the amounts involved. Let us recall that the Robinho is fee is a British record. The Kaka deal if it goes through, will be three times that amount.

The most interesting thing about this deal isn't the reaction of the City fans, far from it, because they have every reason to be over their blue moon at the prospect of the third best player in the world signing.

For me the most interesting thing is what will happen in the advent of Kaka turning down City? It could be potentially hugely damaging for the Blues because every club will now be looking to at least double their asking price for any new targets and we've already seen evidence of that BEFORE the Kaka deal talk erupted...

IF Kaka turns down City and their Arab owners it will also send out a very important message and embarrassing one at that. Just maybe then the new owners will realise what a huge mistake they've made in buying the Blues - because it will effectively mean that no amount of money can attract the best players in the world to City.

On a slightly more positive note, I do not see what is happening at City affecting the rest of football, because there will be two prices for prospective new players; one for City and another for the rest.

why when man u brought ferdinand in those days for 30 million people like Arsen wenger didnt say that they living in another world. Just make the mathematic of wht man u spend on unkown player likes nani and anderson (anyway, i do not complain thay are good players).

The some outcry happened when abramovich took over Chelsea. Untill now, i still see the premier Leage still in good shape, and even some other big club beating Chelsea on the transfert market.

I guess to understand why City need somebody like Kaka. The lad have integrity in the football world, and they want him for a long terme to be the selling image of City. And to add on that his talent, wht is wrong with that?

I am a BIG Chelsea FAN, and i do not complain at all. At least we will not only talk about the BIG 4. Man city will be on board.

And i think Arsen Wenger just need the premier Leage 2 be a battle betwen 4 club.

Just think about KOLO TOURE. The lad been brought in Arsenal for less than a million, and look at what is his price on the market.

who is leaving in the real world???
If fantasy worl realy existe...

Welcome KAKA.

'Manchester United were not accused by all and sundry of living in football's madhouse when they paid £30m to Leeds United for Rio Ferdinand, almost the same for Juan Sebastian Veron from Lazio, £27m to Everton for Wayne Rooney and £30m to Spurs for Dimitar Berbatov'.

No, there weren't. Perhaps because they signed all those players after years of dominance (on and off the field) and after becoming Champions of Europe again in 1999. Since the early 1990s United's expenditure grew proportionally with their growth and success as a business. City do not have that - they have a very wealthy backer, who unlike even Jack Walker, is not a fan or home-towner - there's simply no guarantee he wont get bored and walk away. That's why City's signings are not comparable to United's.

Furthermore In the past decade United consistently made significant profit through the sales of youth products (Beckham, Richardson, Rossi, Pique, Bardsley, Butt, P Neville, Eagles, Ebanks-Blake, etc)which is rarely noted in the media, as well as recouping significant elements of the original fees for Veron, Van Nistelrooy, Forlan, Heinze etc. Basically they're run like like the efficient business they are.

Do you think City will recoup much on Jo?

I enjoyed this article.

I believe it's only being done to attract more big players in the summer.
A big player will be more prepared to go to a nobody club if they'll have "best in the world" colleagues.

Money was used to snag Robinho
Robinho (and money) is being used to lure Kaka.
Who wouldn't want to play with Robinho and Kaka?

This is all so easy to explain.... I don't know why other people haven't noticed it... It's a simple error in translation. As we all know kaka's first language is not English - therefore when he was offered £500k a week to play at a club with guaranteed CHAMPIONSHIP football next season, he thought they meant CHAMPIONS LEAGUE...

When a tradgedy strikes, I find it insulting when football commentators say "it puts things into perspective football is only a game" what perspective do they want us to see the present financial fiasco football finds itself in. I and many other people will not take home £1000000 in 49 years of work and we are rewarded with an inadequate state pension. Entertainers(footballers) get these huge sums of money and to rub salt into the wounds will qualify for the same state pension as the rest of us.

There are some interesting comments about an ex Monaco manager regarding clubs living within their means.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

I'm not being funny but it all seems to be a bit crazy!
If you asked Man City fans honestly, would they rather spend £100m on Kaka, or 7 or 8 other good players.
Kaka is an amazing amazing player but one player doesn't make a team. The laugh will be if they buy him and he gets injured on day one and is out for the rest of the season!

This is ridiculous. £100m for a player. What about their next signing, and next signing.

If the reports about his wages are to be believed, what's to stop the rest of the players demanding 50% of that? This is short-term in the absolute extreme.

Manchester City, turned into a gimmick by someone who wants to show off their cash. Nothing great about it, nothing. It can only end in tears

As a United fan I really thought Mark Hughes would be handling this better. It honestly seems to me that right now, palyers are being bought based on name and reputation rather than being brought in to balance the team. Kaka, Bellamy, Santa Cruz, Robinho? where will they all play? What will happen to thos e members that are already there? is Man city bent on trying to win every match 6 goals to 5? It doesn't make any sense and I have not heard them linked to any Defenders. Plus £100, 000 is too much to pay for ANY player even if you do have the money. It is wrong on so many levels and is a danger to football and Manchester City

well this is a fantastic article but- the only problem i ve with that is that 100 million for on player is quite a waste , when u can buy 2 defensive mid fielders, 2 central back, and a striker with that and city will be able to challenge for champions league next yrs. mark huges have to use his brain and not just look at today but try to be able to save his job cos with the coming of alot of superstars he will loose his job if they have a few bad result . he should build a team and not just buying kaka

The amount of money is insane for one player and cannot for me have a good impact on the team. It is over twice as much as Real Madrid paid for Zidane in his prime and Kaka is simply not as good. Hughes is clearly being undermined as manager and cannot make his own decisions, despite what he says. Where is the motivation for the other members of the squad, Ireland, Elano, SWP if they know that Kaka is coming in and being paid 5 times what they are on. And as for Kaka himself who is only likely to move given pressure from the Milan hierarchy may not relish the prospect of trying to keep a club up who he has no affiliation towards.

And there is also the fact that City do not need Kaka at all. Their problem has not been the man behind the main striker(s), in fact this has been their greatest strength this season, any manager will tell you to build from the back first and City don't have a back four at the moment capable of providing the base for Kaka and co to work in. The other priorities should be a goalkeeper and a striker but neither of these looks as likely. It is all very well to buy world class players but they need to be the right men. Look at Chelsea, too many players of the same type in midfield, all top players but don't work together. Mourinho brought in the likes of Essien, Carvalho, Makalele (may have been Ranieri's) but the point is he brought players for the team, not just some bizarre, delusional fantasy squad. Hughes should be allowed to get on with his job, sign the right players for the right money, anything else is doomed to failure.

I'd also like to add that it is somewhat short sighted and irresponsible for supposedly to top BBC sports journalist to be praising such a move on the basis that it will make the fans happy. Manchester United did not win numerous trophies over the years with such signings. The core of the squad was kept in the 90s and it is the work ethic and desire to win and play for each other that sets us apart from the others at the moment. Sven was doing a great job at City, bringing through the likes of Ireland, Johnson, Hart and trying to build a team, the signings were not rash and made sense. To be fair to hughes he would probably do the same given the chance.

Not to hark on about it...but...

Now a reported £110 to 120m + another £10m in agents fee's...and £2m for Kaka's Dad...

&

Another cool £100m for the players wages say over 4 years...

Assuming he signs, we are witnessing our first (and possible only)...

QUARTER OF A BILLION POUND PLAYER!!

I'm flabergasted! Hope he signs though...just for the pleasure in seeing Jamie Carragher personally introduce himself to Kaka on 22nd Feb!! Lol...

Mr Mc Nulty, I know the EPL and football generally has turned into a right gravy train, but surely even you can see that firstly: this sort of development is not healthy and secondly: that UEFA (messers Blatter and Platini) have got it in for the EPL as it is.

Thus allowing foreign money to buy out EPL clubs and flood the transfer market with cash has only resulteed in mediocre players costing 12-20 million pounds.

The smaller clubs having absolutely no chance to compete and other European clubs looking on enviously may well join in a chorus with Blatter to "lock down" these transfer fees.

Abramowitch has seen that throwing money out of the window doesn't work (Shevchenko) but how long can and will the world governing bodies stand by and watch as the EPL is turned into a millionaires train set.

I think it might be better given your position to appeal for the FA to get off their haunches and pass some regulations to keep clubs (either in the hands of people from the country) or set a ceiling, based on a coefficient of revenue or stop clubs being able to run up debts that cannot be paid back, like in the Bundesliga.

I do think the point you make is a good one Phil being a Liverpool fan i was used to at times when we couldn't afford to get certain players but the thing with Man City is the fact that while they may have to pay alot of money for players they can afford it and it affects the whole transfer market for teams that may not have the financial power and teams will be quoting high prices for everyone.

"Manchester United were not accused by all and sundry of living in football's madhouse when they paid £30m to Leeds United for Rio Ferdinand, almost the same for Juan Sebastian Veron from Lazio, £27m to Everton for Wayne Rooney and £30m to Spurs for Dimitar Berbatov."

Why should they be?

Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool can spend as much as they like, theyre successful from playing football, building worldwide fan bases and generating their own money..FROM FOOTBALL.
Its basic economics, supply and demand. If there was no demand for football, Man Utd would not be rich. However Chelsea and Man City would be as their wealth was generated from OIL.

I cant see how people dont understand this? Its not the amounts, its the principle of the moneys origin.

I'm sure you'll get it one day Phil

I really believe that there is a problem with supply and demand of footballers in this age. There simply arent enough players and this is why the Premier league is so condensed this year. One team does not have ALL the players. Also with the advancement in technology, clubs just dont let go of players for nothing. In South Africa we have a player Teko Modise who is probably the best player we have ever produced, much better than Benni McCarthy. But the chairman of Pirates will not let him go for cheap (He would rather wait until after the World Cup).

Not sure why everyone is saying Man City will be a 1 player team... they aren't buying one player and selling all the rest... they already have some cracking players at their disposal, yes a CB & better wingbacks are needed but why not get Kaka if you can afford it... it will entice other quality players to join him, the existing quality players they have and their promising acadamy. Kaka will sell shirts, maybe not like Beckham, but plenty... also at 26 if he leaves in 2-3 years City will be able to sell (maybe not 100m but a decent whack!)

Lovett...Not a City fan!

As for that "top clubs squeeling" that is rich!!

Considering for years City fans have been telling all how they are Manchesters "proper football club", how amazingly fast they all sold out that idea

I mean, come on, £100m for one player. A rumored £243m total package?? That is more than Sir Alex spent assembling his current squad!

City were supposed to be the route for local lads to make it. They've got no chance now, have they?

Why do people say "Why get Kaka instead of defenders/holding midfielders.

The owners of City have so much cash they dont have to choose between the two options. They can spend as much as they want, in fact there is probably miore limitations in that there is only 15 days left in Jan than the amount of money they have left.

These are the kind of people who will drop £20M to have the Rolling Stones entertain them for 2 hours. So £100M for Kaka for 5 years is a bargain.

People on 606 and these boards really dont comprehend the scale of the funding here when they comment.

If the owners lose a billion over the next 5 years then so what, it makes no material difference to them, they will have pumped millions of gallons more of oil which will only get more expensive in the medium/long term.

I think that this deal has more to do with the owners wishes than that of Mark Hughes. Bridge and the possible signings of Bellamy and Parker seem more like the type of signings Sparky wants. Proven, reliable premeirship players. Not world class but hardly sunday league.

Ethically and morally it might not be the best piece of business that a football team has ever done but it must be a fantastic time to be blue (33 years!!)...

If they actually get Kaka then can you imagnie the players that could follow him to the Council House?

This all feels very bizarre to be writing Kaka and Manchester City in the saem sentence!!

Phil,

I realise you're a football writer, but if you and everyone else spent 5 minutes looking outside of the football goldfish bowl and look at the financial state of your average joe/country/world, then it would take you about 1 second to realise this sort of money is completely obscene.

The mere fact that "advisors" and "middle men" involved in this deal stand to make millions from the deal for very little work at all shows how bloated the footballing fat cats are.

Manchester City fans, whilst happy about the transfer, must surely start wondering why they have to pay for their season tickets to watch their team, when their owners have such money to throw at one person.

all Man U transfers (barring Berba) you mentioned were made when Man Utd were still PLc and thus financially prudent. This is not the case with Man City to whom the current owners are effectively lending money. One day they could just make up their mind that they are tired of football at which point Man City would be asked to pay back their owners. I think there's a big difference there.

Also Man Utd did not pay over twice the world record transfer for any of those players.

I do not agree with your argument Phil

UEFA should only allow clubs to spend money in proportion to the revenue that the clubs make. That way if any investor comes in they first have to build a massive stadium, upgrade the clubs infrastructure before they can actually spend money on players!!

If you look at this from the point of view that Kaka is purely doing this for money then i think you are wrong.

If Kaka takes does indeed come to the prem i think that he will do his career a great turn.. as he's played at the highest level in Italy for so long and champions league football has been a given in seasons gone past.. AND with City in their current position he has to work harder on the football field than ever before in order to bring city to the place that the owners want to the club to be... and that is top 4 and champs lge football... Having had experience of playing in all the major club competitions on offer he will no doubt, as a professional (and folks lets not forget this fact, he's a perfect role model for kids all around the world) try his hardest and encourage his team mates (who ever they turn out to be?) to do the same... and also in terms of the youth 'project' ongoing at city how good will it be to have this type of role model for the kids coming thru the YTS to look up to and learn from....

btw im a united fan saying all this...

City bring it on.

I am surprised Abu Dhabi United Group bought Man City and prepared to spend £100m on Kaka and many more on players. It sounds cheaper for me if they buy AC Milam for £500m.

I'm a Manchester City fan and i have to admit im scared about the situation. The thought of having Kaka (thats right Kaka!!!) at the blue camp is an amazing thought. Allot of people are saying "well what happens when the owners get bord of the club and want to sell" I admit this could happen but to be honest i can't see this.
The owners want to be in the champions league and fighting for the league title within 2 years. A huge amount of money is needed to get us there.
Along with Santa Cruz, Nigel De Jong and a replacment for Mr Richards in the heart of defence, i feel that city will be movinging along the road to where us blues all want to be!

there is 1 point being overlooked.

When Utd spent millions on Veron, he was a massive flop. Since then Ferguson has only spent big bucks on players that are proven quality in the premier league (rio, rooney, berba)

As good a player as Kaka is, there is no guarantee he will rise to the premier league challenge. look at veron, Crespo, Shevchenko, Deco, Morientes etc, all established names in other leagues, but couldnt hack the physical and pacy nature of the premiership.

I could see Kaka going down the same route of Reyes, starting brightly, but fading out with a whimper when players start using force to stop him.

Personally I hope they do sign Kaka, and that he cant hack the league, city get relegated and the relegation release cause see's Kaka swan off for 30 mil

There are three separate issues here:
1) Is it a good financial investment?
2) Is it the right footballing decision?
3) Is it 'morally' right?

1) No. TV revenues will plummet in the next few years - we have already seen the high point of the finances of the EPL. There is no way that City would ever get their money back.

2) No. They need half a defence and a world-class holding midfielder if they are to have any chance of reaching the top four in the next few years. Even Chelski bought players in defensive positions - building a strong TEAM is why they won the league. Yes, United have spent absurd sums on attackers but only after setting up a really strong defence and midfield.

3) Tricky. The 'moral' problem is really about how any individuals ever amass this much money, not about how they spend it. The amounts of money in top flight football (and pop music, finance, oil etc) have all been absurd and unreal for the past decade. Hopefully the current recession will hit those with cash rather than those without it. Then we will all see what world of dreamworld we've all been living in.

But, given that these guys have billions of pounds, its unsurprising that they want to spend it in stupid ways. There is no way of spending that sort of money sensibly (apart from giving to charity).

The practical problems will be two-fold:

a) Kaka will block a British player from gaining EPL first team experience, which will further weaken the national teams. He will also probably suck funds away from youth investment and other projects to fund his ridiculous wages.

b) How will football fans feel about the salaries paid (in part by their ticket purchases) when they all start losing their jobs and can barely afford to feed their families.

Phil McNulty, like all other football writers seem more desperate to see the bigger clubs fail than the long term stability of the game

Is it cos you're bored of seeing the same clubs win everything, you want a new club to win something? Well guess what, after 3-5 years you'll get bored of City winning everything for the same reasons you're bored of Chelsea.

The English Premier League is not a sport. Unrecognisable from 15 years ago. The money men have already stolen its soul, now they will bleed it dry until the public are no longer interested in £1m a week "superstars" they have no connection with

"My own reservations about the deal are purely footballing ones, while at the same time stressing City supporters should be allowed to bask in the new ambition of their club without being lampooned for it."

Why should Man City be excluded from being lampooned. They have done it to others for years. All is fair...

Kaka will be playing in the Championship. He isn't even as good as Ronaldo, the world player of the year.

To me, the so far 'attempted' signing of Kaka is an extremely risky one.

For a club like City, whose money pit seems to be bottomless surely they should be strengthening the areas the areas of their team which they need to in order to climb the table (as many others have said).

However, the risky part comes if a player like Kaka was to turn down the offer in terms of 'morality' (like in the reference his agent made about Robinho being money hungry). I think this would seriously damage City's chances of signing other big-names who wouldn't want to be seen as being a money grabber.

Good knowledge of the footballing world should have prompted the club to make some other 'above average' fortifying signings (like Wayne Bridge) before trying for something as large sale as this.

Just my opinion...

Its a good thing, even if the reported amount seems inflated and is not verified to be actually true. Same was the case with beckham, lot of strings attached. For Man City it becomes an attraction for other players to get involved; the tricky thing is to balance top paid players with other talent and create football and commercial success in long run. From business makes sense, some flag, top players; merchandizing, tv contracts go up, and hopefully in time also sport results, converging into one.

I'm a United fan.
The more I look at this and the more I think about it, the more it makes sense to me. This could be very good business for City.
They clearly wnat to establish themselves on the world stage asap and (no disrespect to Roninho), they are firmly laying down a marker with Kaka. Other big time players will follow suit when they see someone like him in their ranks. Yes, they need a decent centre half and an enforcer in midfield - but these are a lot easier to find than someone like Kaka. Secondly, now is the time to bring him in as he'll need time to gel with the rets of the team. They're clearly targeting next season.
So, though the sums are crazy (so are the TV contract rights), if it's tp be done by City - this is the only way they can do it.

This is the next stage of the madness that started with Abramovitch (or arguably Jack Walker) As has been previously posted Man U, Liverpool and to a degree Arsenal's buying power and ability to attract top class players has come about over decades by their build up of a large fan base willing to invest in tickets, merchandise and TV subsriptions to watch their team. Their success became self perpetuating (and therefore to some boring) The sudden influx of vast sums of cash from external sources to clubs upsets that apple-cart much to some peoples delight, but it also takes the finances of football into alice-in-wonderland. Do other clubs risk debt,administration and obvliion trying to compete? As a United fan I a fine with Kaka at City - lets see how he fares on a cold midwinter game against Wigan! (We had one the other night and our star "world-player-of-the-year" was conspicious in his absence as an influence on the game ) I dont think Kaka will take City into the PL top 4 alone and I believe the non-footballing issues will ultimately mean City will Look back one day and wish the Arab money men had put their money elsewhere...

I am surprised Abu Dhabi United Group bought Man City and prepared to spend ?100m on Kaka and many more on players. It sounds cheaper for me if they buy AC Milam for ?500m.
********************


How true!

Trouble being of course that attendences in Italy are often poor and there is still a lot of trouble with right wing groups

Right, this may sound a little crazy but here goes.

Man City can spend 100 mil on Kaka and another 100 mil on a striker and a couple of defenders in the summer and they will still not finish in the top 4 next season. Even with Kaka they will struggle to finish in the top 8 this season, their team has no balance.

If Kaka in not motivated by money then he will stay at Milan and continiue to earn millions a year for the club he says he loves.

I know this is all crazy talk but they have so much money to throw around that they could potentially put a bid in for Ronaldo. If United were offered 150 million could the club turn it down? This is all so mental.

The best outcome would be for Kaka to join City, City to puchase no decent defenders, City to get relegated on the last day of the season, and Kaka and Robihno to be playing Championship football next season. That is my dream.

One difference between City and United is that United wasn't successful overnight. They built their success slowly on the pitch over the century and when they became a top club they're simply re-inforcing their position by spending big on the big players to stay at the top.

City owners may say they're patient for success on the pitch but looking at their recent transfers suggest otherwise.

I'm by no means a United fan, but at least they money they spend is offset by their revenue worldwide (even if they are now heavily leveraged).

I can't see city in the top 6 by the end of this season, which is probably what they'll need to do to keep KaKa (assuming they sign him) because a player of that class whould not want to be without European football for too long.