By Harry Harris, Football Correspondent
Blackburn Rovers’ Indian owners are preparing to make an
audacious money-no-object bid for Kaka in the summer.
After failed bids for Ronaldinho and David Beckham in January,
the ambitions of the Venky’s Group remain high, and ESPNsoccernet
has been told to expect a crazy offer for Real Madrid’s Kaka.
Manchester City tried and failed with a near-£100 million bid and
he eventually joined Real for £56 million in the summer of
2009.
Kaka is one of several of the world’s biggest names being
currently sounded out as to their interest in becoming the first
marquee Blackburn Rovers signing of the new regime – but he remains
the prize they really want. A salary of £200,000-a-week would be on
the table with added image rights from shirt sales added to a fee
of more than £30 million that Blackburn believe would tempt Real to
let him go.
A source close to the Venky’s operation told ESPNsoccernet that
a number of Brazilians have been considered: “I have seen the club
linked with Robinho, but he is not going to leave AC Milan. Elano
is another, but his experiences at Manchester City will tell you he
might not be the one to go for, while Neymar is a young, unknown
quantity, but still a player much admired.
“Kaka, though, has suffered a long-term injury, and it’s well
known that Jose Mourinho, should he stay, would listen to a bid for
Kaka,” said the source on their main target. “Of course, Jose might
not be at Madrid, and Kaka might prefer Chelsea, maybe Chelsea will
still be keen to throw money at the big names again.”
Blackburn are keen to make a statement that will provide their
owners with a place on the footballing map. “There is no doubt that
Blackburn mean business and who knows what might happen in the
summer,” the source continued.
“We do know that they wanted to put the money on the table for
Ronaldinho but we also all knew he had made up his mind to return
to Brazil, so that was a non-starter, and Beckham was only going to
to Spurs or nowhere, so that too was a non-starter.
“Kaka is not a non starter because they are ready to put the
money on the table. It would depend on whether the player fancies
living in Manchester, and remember he has already turned down City,
so we shall have to wait and see.”
After the failures to tempt the likes of Ronaldinho and co,
Blackburn need to capture a major star if they are to fulfill the
publicity-generated ambitions of their owners.
