Kaka basically has been hogtied by Adriano Galliani, Silvio Berlusconi, and his father Bosco Leite, into making this Real deal happen.
After all who cares whether the player actually wants to play for the club? Its 70million euros in the bank for Milan. The fans can protest all they want. The club wants it to happen and the media wants it to happen even more. A future book will reveal that the media controlled by Real, was paid off to keep up the drumbeat, a key factor in his ultimate transfer.
Here is Adriano Galliani:
“The reasons for the departure of Kaka are solely economic,” he said.
“Even a great heart must confront the situation and make choices. Milan can not go on losing 70 million euros a year.”
He goes on to say:
“I might sound boring, but today no one even dares to think that players like Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo can come to Italy,” he said.
“If we don’t solve these problems, we will not have the Kakas, Patos and Ibrahimovics anymore. If we go forward like this, with these stadiums, we will become a small league.”
Silvio Berlusconi is supposed to meet with Kaka on Monday after the Brazilian returns from the Uruguay World Cup qualifier to convince him that a move to Real will be in his best interest. The meeting is set up as a sort of exit interview.
Milan have a great chance of rebuilding their squad around Kaka but they figure they can risk his departure. It has been a disappointing season and Kaka came up short by his very high standards. The club’s task has not been made easy. This was not a player disillusioned by Milan’s lack of domestic success or at loggerheads with the coaching staff or a mercenary. Kaka has mentioned his love for Milan and its fans. He has the support of Paolo Maldini, who if the head honchos care to remember retired after a quarter of a century of service. He chose not to play for any other club. Milan etched itself into the pages of history under Maldini’s stewardship.
Who will replace Kaka as a complete package? I don’t think Ronaldinho has the chops to do it as Berlusconi insists. The Brazilian is a classic example of a player spoiled by the You Tube generation. He had some very exceptional seasons at Barca but its been downhill since then. It is telling that he was never became the subject of transfer speculation even as he sat on the bench under Ancelotti for a whole season.
So the club resorts to using Darwinian language of the survival of the fittest. By questioning its future viability, the club has made it untenable for Kaka to stay. It is no longer enough for their playmaker to love and honour his club, it is his responsibility to get out of the way to ensure its survival. This excuse was not used by Milan when Man City tabled an even bigger offer because the chase for the Serie was still on and Kaka was needed.
Galliani’s logic is fallacious. Milan gets no respect for forcing their principal playmaker’s departure, not just from fans but from other clubs as well. Cristiano Ronaldo might leave but he will leave appreciating how fiercely Man Utd fought Real’s predatory interests. Man Utd’s stance last season was applauded by all clubs, even bitter rivals who would have benefited immensely from Ronaldo’s absence. In fact, if Milan’s next season does not end well this decision can come back to haunt them. With Inter, Juve, Fiorentina, Roma, and Genoa, pushing hard, a CL spot next season cannot be assumed. The calculus that Kaka’s payoff will keep them financially viable will be undercut with the even bigger losses missing out on a CL spot might incur. Not to mention the eternal wrath of their fans. Un vero affare del diavolo.