SOCCER: AC Milan have confirmed on their own television station that they are considering selling Kaka to Manchester City and the player's spokesman has responded by telling reporters his client has "been authorised" to open talks with the Premier League club. A fee reported to be in the region of €119million has been tabled.
A statement read out on Milan’s official TV channel said the bid had neither been accepted or rejected, but was “being considered.”
Given the private soundings they have received over the past few weeks, City insiders believe Milan will not turn such a staggering world-record fee down.
What was once the undisputed European powerhouse, Italian football is going through turbulent times and Serie A is now a clear number three in the pecking order behind the Premier League and La Liga.
And Milan have slipped within that fading competition.
Champions League winners for the eighth time in 2007, with Kaka in the team, the Rossoneri did not even qualify for this season’s competition.
Reduced to bringing in ageing stars such as Ronaldinho and, on a short-term loan, David Beckham to bolster their ranks, Milan realise City’s bid — which is said to last only until the end of this month’s transfer window — represents a heaven-sent opportunity to restore Milan to former glories.
Blues’ owner Sheikh Mansour was always confident Milan would be unable to resist. His main problem is persuading Kaka of the boldness of his plan.
The next few days are likely to be taken up with assessing the former world player of the year’s various sponsorship agreements and discovering how easily these can be transferred to England from Italy.
Various meetings will then take place involving Kaka and his advisers — including his father who has played such a key role in guiding the 26-year-old’s career — AC Milan and City officials, the outcome of which will determine whether the most amazing transfer in living memory actually goes through.
“I have no idea whether he will end up here,” admitted City boss Mark Hughes. “It is dependent on too many factors.
“However, people should not think this is just being done on a whim.
“(Executive chairman) Garry Cook, (chairman) Khaldoon al-Mubarak and I have discussed this for numerous months and Kaka was in our thoughts right from the outset.
“It is not something we have only thought of in the last week and decided to act and it would be naive of people to think I have not been involved in the process.
“It has moved forward at a pace this week. It is a football decision that has been done with a structure and an understanding that we can move it forward.”
