Kaka On His Way To Chelsea?

I wouldn’t mind betting there were a fair few Chelsea supporters almost wetting themselves with excitement to read how close we are to signing Kaka. Great stuff eh?

While one source announced we’d made a world-record bid of £79.3million for the Brazilian playmaker, another went as far as to say discussions have already taken place this week and both clubs are ‘keen for a deal to go through’. Apparently, so keen are AC Milan to let Kaka go all of a sudden, that once Chelsea had sent their representative over with a deal, a Milan delegation returned the favour by turning up at Stamford Bridge to continue the negotiations.

Despite Kaka previously making it clear he didn’t fancy a move to Chelsea, we’re now to believe a sudden change of heart has made him see the transfer – which would eclipse the £46million paid for Zinedine Zidane in 2001 – as a great idea. Not only does he really want to play for his former Brazil coach but he also genuinely believes Chelsea are ‘the most attractive destination in European football’ – er, didn’t he recently say that about United? Maybe we’re attractive in the financial sense though, seeing as it’d mean a hefty pay rise and a £10.5million signing on fee?

And AC Milan, having only last year told Real Madrid exactly what they could do with their bid of 90million euro’s for one of their biggest assets, are reported to have seen Chelsea’s £79.3million bid in a different light. “This time is different”, says Kaka’s personal assistant and closest adviser, Diogo Kotscho. “This is the first time we feel that a deal will definitely happen”. So, has he been on the sauce you might wonder? Or is it maybe Milan’s financial circumstances that have him crossing his fingers for a significant windfall of his own?

Certainly, like most of the top clubs, Milan aren’t immune from the odd financial dilemma. With their failure to qualify for the Champions League and an average age in their squad even worse than our own, the Rossoneri clearly have some adjustments to make this summer and £79.3million surely wouldn’t go amiss? So, whilst Kaka has always been off limits in the past, we’re now told that their current difficulties together with Ronaldinho’s arrival at the San Siro has made the Italian club much more open to offers.

Ronaldinho certainly generated plenty of excitement, parading round in his latest club’s colours in front of what had to be a bigger crowd than the Rossoneri pull in for most games. The result of which, has apparently convinced Milan their latest signing will be a sufficient sweetener for the fans, who might not even notice Kaka slip out the back door. As for Kaka though, despite his own public crusade to persuade Ronaldinho to join him at the San Siro in the first place, he was much less impressed with the media circus following the former Barcelona man into town – according to that reliable ‘source’ anyway.

But what are we hearing from Milan themselves on the subject? Well Adriano Galliani totally accepts running at a loss isn’t ideal and the sale of Kaka would make the bank manager smile if no-one else: “We do not have a transfer kitty stashed away here. Despite failing to qualify for the Champions League, the club is strengthening the squad and increasing the wages. This means we’ll be £35m in the red without President Silvio Berlusconi’s help.” However, Galliani clearly hasn’t had a word with the more in-the-know sources, because he goes on to say “The fans should be happy, as all we’d need to do in order to wipe out or debts is sell Kaka and Andrea Pirlo. Instead they won’t move, so if that’s not a show of love for this side, I don’t know what is.”

So where in all this is the truth?

Well, what we do know is that Milan are in the red, but how many top clubs aren’t? But, if Ronaldinho’s unveiling was anything to go by, they’ve already made a start on generating a bit more income there. He might well have cost them £18million, but his arrival saw the San Siro filled with a lot more enthusiastic onlookers than I’ve ever seen on any of my visits. Add to that the 10,000 season tickets sold in two days and the potential revenue from anything with his name on it, and the £18million outlay starts to look like a decent investment.

Would the Italian club, who let’s face it, have always been adamant they have no intention of losing one of their most creative influences go, suddenly change their mind on the strength of a player who’s just had his dodgiest season in top-flight football? Galliani suggests not: “I can confirm that Chelsea declared their interest in Kaka. But I told them that Milan were not interested in selling him and I stopped everything before they could make any offer. So, I don’t know whether they would have offered £80m.” And if that hasn’t convinced the ‘source’, maybe the club statement will: “Regarding the comments, Milan director of communications Vittorio Mentana reiterates that Kaka is absolutely not for sale.”

So, let’s be realistic here. These Kaka rumours have been doing the rounds for years and are almost as expected now as our links to Eto’o or Roberto Carlos every summer – and none of them have happened, why is this summer any different? Besides, with Kaka clearly being a man who puts a lot of faith in his mates, could anyone seriously see his former team mate and good friend Shevchenko doing much of a job when it comes to extolling the virtues of a move to Chelsea?