10 Players You Probably Didn't Know Man City Almost Signed
1. Kaka
In January 2009, nobody knew quite what to make of Manchester City. Sheikh Mansour had been in town for four months, and besides becoming a catalyst for a flurry of newspaper sales, nobody knew how serious he was. Could this Abu Dhabi takeover be a publicity stunt, with the same scepticism that had shrouded Abramovichs 2003 arrival creeping back into the minds of bemused on-lookers. They had certainly announced themselves to the party with a bang, stumping up a £32 million British record fee for Real Madrid forward Robinho, but it was only in January 2009 when people down put their cups of tea, and started to take the new boys seriously.
Kaka had been crowned Fifa Ballon dOr winner two years earlier, as he heroically masterminded AC Milans triumphant Champions League success, inflicting revenge on a shell-shocked Liverpool side. Having scored 26 goals for Brazil, and found goalscoring success 95 times for the Milanese throughout a glorious six year love affair, the Brazilian playmaker was rightfully heralded as one of the greatest players on the planet.
Clearly nobody forwarded the oil tycoons the memo about learning to walk before you could run. This was a Man City squad who still paid the wages of Darius Vassell, Ched Evans and Tal Ben Haim a far cry from the monolithic club that exists today. Despite Kakas devout loyalty to the Milanese giants, a City delegation had tested the unwavering bond between the two with a potentially havoc-wreaking £100 million bid.
''We believe the deal is very close. We are selling the future plans of the club to the player. Our understanding is that is very much a strong possibility that Kaka will be coming to Manchester City. Steve Bowen, 2009.
Despite having vehemently stated that he wanted to grow old, Kakas representative admitted that the Brazilian had been tempted by the offer, although stopped short of stating it was all about the proposed £500,000 p/wk contract.
''We have to see if Manchester City have a project to become a Champions League team and become one of the top teams in the world, and to stay there long term. Kaka wouldnt do anything based on money. He would never do something like Robinho, who, just to earn more, contented himself with a solution that was not a winning one. Kotscho, 2009.
The potential transfer of the Sao Paolo native would have sent shockwaves around the football stratosphere, shattering the previous world record fee of £47 million paid by Real Madrid for the services of Zinedine Zidane in 2001.
Alas, the story was not to have a happy ending for Man City, as on the 20th of January, they were forced to issue a statement revealing that Kaka had spurned the opportunity to join the project. Somehow, the new arrival of Craig Bellamy being paraded at Eastlands, instead of the former World Cup winner, left the Manchester faithful feeling cold and underwhelmed.
Silvio Berlusconi rejoiced alongside the Milan fans at having hung their onto their prized asset, with the former Italian prime minister lavishing him with praise, describing him as an extraordinary boy for rejecting the cash. However, six months later, Kaka did end up purchasing a one way ticket, following a series of successful negotiations with Real Madrid.
However, after five years of injuries, loss of form and general malcontent at the Spanish giants, the Manchester City hierarchy might actually see his rejection of the biggest contract ever offered in world football as a blessing in disguise.
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