Kaka wishes to meet the man behind the £100million cash
bid to take him to
Manchester City before deciding
on his future.
As AC Milan accepted City's offer, sources at City insist he
will sit down with Sheik Mansour and give the Abu Dhabi billionaire
and his employees at Eastlands the chance to persuade Kaka to move
to the Premier League.
It may even involve a reception at the Sheik's £8billion Royal
Palace.
Though the Brazilian superstar was quick to express his desire
to remain at the San Siro yesterday, insisting he would like 'to
grow old in Milan', his club are keen on the transfer and on
Wednesday night they were waiting for Kaka's father and chief
adviser, Bosco, to return from a holiday in Brazil for talks.
City remain confident that the astonishing deal will go ahead
and suggest Kaka may be in their team for the home league game
against Newcastle on January 28.
The club have already been in regular contact with Kaka's
father, having recognised from the outset that he has been very
influential at every stage of his son's career. Meanwhile, City's
current superstar Robinho has been in regular phone contact with
his compatriot and has told manager Mark Hughes that Kaka is ready
to come to Manchester.
City have been told that Kaka's sceptical comments on Wednesday
were made in order to buy the player time.
Having been sold on the idea by Sheik Mansour and his chairman
Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Hughes has indicated he would play Kaka in a
central role alongside Stephen Ireland, with Robinho on the left
and Shaun Wright- Phillips on the right.
Hughes also believes Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz and West
Ham's Craig Bellamy will be at the club in time for the Newcastle
game and may even arrive before Saturday's crucial clash with Wigan
- this despite West Ham's rejection of an improved £10m offer for
Bellamy because they value him at £15m.
When Adriano Galliani, Milan's chief executive, meets Kaka Snr
he will tell him the Serie A club have accepted City's offer for
his son and that they are happy for the transfer to proceed.
Sheikh Mansour is set to meet with AC Milan superstar
Kaka.
Already there has been talk in Italy of the demands Kaka
would make of his suitors. He wants to meet Sheik Mansour to
satisfy himself that his potential new employer is committed to
making City the biggest football club in the world, while also
insisting on an escape clause if they fail to secure Champions
League football within two years.
City will be encouraged by the 26-year-old's stance but they may
still need to be at their persuasive best to secure the services of
the 2007 World Player of the Year.
In an interview with the website owned by Milan owner and Italy
prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, Kaka said: 'I want to grow old at
Milan. My aim is to become at some point the captain of this
team.'
Kaka's spokesman, Diogo Kotscho, failed to offer City much
encouragement in an interview with an Italian newspaper. 'Kaka
wouldn't do anything based on money,' he said. 'He would never do
something like Robinho, who, just to earn more, contented himself
with a solution that was not a winning one.'
But in an interview he then gave to Sky, Kotscho was more
positive, saying: 'We now have to wait for negotiations between the
two clubs. If that happens, it is not about money.
'If Manchester City are to become one of the top teams in the
world they have to have a project to be the best. At this time we
can negotiate to join them.
'If they have a good project, and can get other players, to
become one of the top teams in the world - like AC Milan are - then
we can negotiate.
Kaka, really not for the money?
'Kaka wants a professional challenge, he wants to play
in the UEFA Champions League and he wants to become the best player
in the world again.
'The Premier League is one of the best and he wants to play
there. I don't know if it will be at this time or not. It is not
impossible, but it will be difficult to reach a deal with AC
Milan.'
The deal was condemned by some leading figures in football. Sir
Bobby Robson has labelled City's offer as 'ludicrous' and warned
that it could 'cripple football'.
'I am absolutely shocked by this, it is an unbelievable figure,'
said Robson. 'It is absolutely ludicrous because nobody is worth
that amount of money, no matter what he does.
'I think bids like this will cripple football because it will
carry on pushing the price of players up all over the world and
there is not enough money in the game to cope with that.'
The sentiment was echoed by former City manager Joe Royle, who
questioned the morality of the potential deal. 'It's an incredible
amount of money and you have to question the morality of it when
the world is in a cash crisis,' he said.
