Slipperduke
The Camden Cad
Finally someone listened to Kaka. Throughout this entire silly episode, the Brazilian midfielder has begged and pleaded with the AC Milan management not to sell him to Manchester City. He has told them that he wants to stay and captain the side. He said that he wanted to grow old at the San Siro. He may even have added that he was terrified of sharing a room with Craig Bellamy. Eventually, even Silvio Berlusconi had to take his fingers out of his ears and listen.
Kaka's rejection of Manchester City's millions is an encouraging reminder that money isn't everything, but it's not quite the 'victory for football' that some have dubbed it. Sadly, the AC Milan star is not your typical player. He's devout, mature and he's intelligent enough to realise that he's not exactly on the poverty line in Italy. Top class footballers may say that they want to play in the top competitions and win medals, but the whisperings of an agent will almost always sway them. Congratulations to Kaka for staying true to his ideals, but Manchester City's owners will knocking on someone else's door in no time. Not every player has Kaka's values.
But a 'victory for football'? No, I'm afraid not. City are still there, distorting the transfer market with their millions, just like Chelsea did in 2003. GBP14m for Craig Bellamy? That's a lot of money for an injury-prone, ageing striker with a poor strike rate and a long history of causing trouble. Incidentally, do you think it's any coincidence that Kaka broke off negotiations just hours after Bellamy's move was confirmed? I can't say that I blame him.
A victory for football would be some kind of global legislation preventing clubs from spending more than their turnover, unbalancing the league with artificial transfer funding. A victory for football would be an overhaul of the transfer system, centralising transactions to prevent agents taking millions out of the game. No-one has any complaints about a player's official agent earning his fee for looking after his client, but why is it taking three or four of them to broker deals these days? Did you spot the identity one of the many agents involved in the doomed Kaka transaction? Kia Joorabchian. Enough said.
Manchester City have a chance to cement their position somewhere near the top of English football. With a fanbase that stayed loyal in the third flight, a modern international grade stadium and one of the finest academies in Europe, there's more potential at the Eastlands than there ever was at Chelsea. If they just keep their nerve and grow sensibly, like Aston Villa under Randy Lerner, there is no limit to what they can achieve.
Instead, they seem determined to chuck money around like a tipsy lottery winner. They didn't even need a Kaka. The one part of the team that actually is Champions League standard is the bank of three attacking midfielders behind the striker. The abrupt departure of Robinho is a demonstration of what happens when you buy the reputation before you study the man. He's a fine player, but his tears and tantrums at Real Madrid last summer told their own story.
Manchester City can take Kaka's rejection as a temporary setback in their vast spending plans or as a sign that their strategy is doomed to failure. Sadly, I think we all know which conclusion they'll hurl themselves at. Victory for football? The madness has only just begun.
Kaka's rejection of Manchester City's millions is an encouraging reminder that money isn't everything, but it's not quite the 'victory for football' that some have dubbed it. Sadly, the AC Milan star is not your typical player. He's devout, mature and he's intelligent enough to realise that he's not exactly on the poverty line in Italy. Top class footballers may say that they want to play in the top competitions and win medals, but the whisperings of an agent will almost always sway them. Congratulations to Kaka for staying true to his ideals, but Manchester City's owners will knocking on someone else's door in no time. Not every player has Kaka's values.
But a 'victory for football'? No, I'm afraid not. City are still there, distorting the transfer market with their millions, just like Chelsea did in 2003. GBP14m for Craig Bellamy? That's a lot of money for an injury-prone, ageing striker with a poor strike rate and a long history of causing trouble. Incidentally, do you think it's any coincidence that Kaka broke off negotiations just hours after Bellamy's move was confirmed? I can't say that I blame him.
A victory for football would be some kind of global legislation preventing clubs from spending more than their turnover, unbalancing the league with artificial transfer funding. A victory for football would be an overhaul of the transfer system, centralising transactions to prevent agents taking millions out of the game. No-one has any complaints about a player's official agent earning his fee for looking after his client, but why is it taking three or four of them to broker deals these days? Did you spot the identity one of the many agents involved in the doomed Kaka transaction? Kia Joorabchian. Enough said.
Manchester City have a chance to cement their position somewhere near the top of English football. With a fanbase that stayed loyal in the third flight, a modern international grade stadium and one of the finest academies in Europe, there's more potential at the Eastlands than there ever was at Chelsea. If they just keep their nerve and grow sensibly, like Aston Villa under Randy Lerner, there is no limit to what they can achieve.
Instead, they seem determined to chuck money around like a tipsy lottery winner. They didn't even need a Kaka. The one part of the team that actually is Champions League standard is the bank of three attacking midfielders behind the striker. The abrupt departure of Robinho is a demonstration of what happens when you buy the reputation before you study the man. He's a fine player, but his tears and tantrums at Real Madrid last summer told their own story.
Manchester City can take Kaka's rejection as a temporary setback in their vast spending plans or as a sign that their strategy is doomed to failure. Sadly, I think we all know which conclusion they'll hurl themselves at. Victory for football? The madness has only just begun.
