City shelve Kaka deal

City confirmed in a statement tonight they had pulled out of negotiations as there was little chance of a deal being done.

Executive chairman Garry Cook told
www.mcfc.co.uk: "Whilst Manchester City Football Club has an obvious interest in world-class players of the quality of Kaka, we owe it to our fans that such a transfer must work on every level; commercially, financially, in terms of results on the field and within Manchester City's broader community."

The dramatic development came at the end of a day when it seemed Kaka was moving tantalisingly close to joining the Eastlands outfit.

Cook, along with other members of the City delegation, had meetings with Milan officials and Kaka's father, Bosco Leite, today.

But it soon became apparent that the complexity of the transfer was not going to work in City's favour and the player, who never spoke face-to-face with the Blues, was not keen on leaving Milan anyway.

Kaka had pointed to his heart when appearing at the window of his house to wave at protesters who had gathered outside to make their feelings known tonight.

The move was slightly ambiguous but, just minutes before City's statement, Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi delivered the news all Rossoneri supporters wanted to hear.

"Kaka is staying at Milan," he told Italia 7 TV.
"He has turned down the money and he won't ask for an increase. He prefers to stay at Milan."

Berlusconi continued: "Money is not everything to Kaka. He is staying with us, there are things which are more important than money: we are happy.

"We offered the player the chance to consider the offer and make himself a fortune, but he has higher values.

"It was down to me and also to him. When I heard he would prefer to stay, that he didn't think he would be missing a great opportunity and he prefers the values of our flag, the values of closeness and friendship, the warmth and the affection that all the fans have shown him in these days, I said 'hooray' and we hugged. Kaka is staying at Milan."

While they are having to bite the bullet as Berlusconi claims victory and the moral high ground, City officials have pointed out that Milan accepted their offer - which has now been estimated at £90million - but feel Berlusconi found the whole situation became too controversial and therefore pulled out.

Cook and Sheikh Mansour's trusted advisor Simon Pearce were returning to England last night no doubt chastened by the experience but now fully aware of how difficult it will be to get stars of Kaka's class to move to a club who remain in the bottom half of the Premier League.

They boarded the flight home disappointed at not being able to sell their vision to Kaka directly. However, they were always aware the 26-year-old would be guided by his father and the guarantees he needed, in all probability the get-out clauses, just did not make sense, even for a man of Sheikh Mansour's staggering wealth.

Whether City will now pursue other similarly lofty targets remains to be seen.

Privately, manager Mark Hughes might conclude his original instincts, to build up in stages, were the right ones and in adding Craig Bellamy, who signed a four-and-a-half year contract yesterday, and Nigel De Jong, who is due for talks after City agreed a few with Hamburg for the Dutch midfielder, were the right ones.

City fans are bound to be disappointed at the news, even if the more realistic Blues followers would have known concluding such a transfer was a long shot.

It could also somewhat undermine Craig Bellamy's grandiose statement that every player in the Premier League wants to join City.

Still, as Bellamy correctly pointed out, these are exciting times for the club.

"It is going to be incredible here over the next couple of years," he told www.mcfc.co.uk.

"It's not just for me, you speak to anyone in the Premier League and they would want to come to Manchester City. It's rare for that to happen outside of the top four but I think there are a lot of players who would like to come to this club.

"There are so many things happening here that are out of this world, it was an offer I just could not walk away from."

Instead of Kaka, City fans can look forward to Bellamy making his debut against Newcastle on January 28.

Although his combustible character has brought him the reputation of being difficult to control, Bellamy and Hughes have worked together twice before, at Blackburn and with Wales, and the forward accepts his fellow countryman seems to know what makes him tick.

"Knowing Mark and his coaching team were here was a big factor," said Bellamy.

"They are people that I have worked with since I was 18. They know me better than anybody else in the football game and they are people I completely trust in.

"I feel I am at my peak and I hope over the next few years to perform really well here."

Unlike De Jong, who has played in the competition for his present club, Bellamy is free to play in City's UEFA Cup campaign this term and once West Ham stated a transfer to local rivals Tottenham was a non-starter, it took barely any time for negotiations to be concluded.

As it turned out, the same was unexpectedly true of Kaka, only not in the manner City wanted.

Kaka played for Milan on Saturday night in their 1-0 victory over Fiorentina.

There were numerous banners at the San Siro showing support for Kaka and pleading with Milan not to sell the team's best player.

Berlusconi admitted the fans' support was key in Kaka's decision to remain.

"Milan asked Kaka to reflect on this offer, but the fans' reaction meant a lot," Berlusconi said.
"He is a big believer and his spirituality has brought him to take this decision.

"Kaka has taken himself out of the market, he is linked to AC Milan not only on paper but also with his heart. He said no without knowing the offer. Kaka remains with us and we are delighted.

"He feels completely rossonero. He has put his spirituality into practice."