La Liga - Real Madrid sign Kaka in £60m deal

Eurosport - Tue, 09 Jun 20:46:00 2009

Real Madrid have completed the signing of Brazilian playmaker Kaka from Milan for just under £60 million.

2009 Brazil Kaka - 0

The 27-year-old international has agreed to a six-year contract to become the first player to join Real since Florentino Perez returned to the presidency this month.

Reports said the transfer fee was around 68 million euros (£58.8m) which would make it the second biggest ever after Zinedine Zidane joined Real from Juventus for around 73m euros (£63.1m) in 2001.

Zidane's move was worth £46.5m at the time, but has 'increased' since then due to exchange rate fluctuations. Nevertheless, the Frenchman's remains indisputably the largest since both fees were negotiated in euros.

Kaka completed a routine medical earlier on Monday in Recife, where Brazil face Paraguay at home in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday.

Kaka said he was leaving the Italians on good terms.

"Everything I've always done for Milan has been by mutual agreement, from the moment I arrived until my departure today," he said at the Brazil team hotel. "I'm leaving by the front door."

"I've won everything that I wanted as a player and this is a new motivation for me."

"I'm sure Real Madrid will build a competitive team which can start winning titles again."

The official unveiling in Madrid is likely to take place at the end of the month, after the Confederations Cup in South Africa.

"We are working on building a good team, an important team, and this has only just begun," Perez told radio station Onda Cero.

Milan thanked Kaka for his contribution.

"Milan thanks the man Kaka and the champion Kaka for his decisive contributions to so many victories obtained in the last six years," the Serie A club said.

"His loss on the field, though serious, can be filled. It will, however, be very difficult to fill the void left by Kaka the man."

Kaka has long been a target for Real Madrid since former president Ramon Calderon promised to sign him in his election campaign in 2006 but failed to deliver.

Calderon resigned in January paving the way for Perez to come back three years after he stood down, and he was returned unopposed to the post.

Perez has promised to deliver a "spectacular sporting project" built around the world's greatest players, and local media have spoken of a 300m euro (£259.5m) war chest which will be used to finance a second 'Galactico era' at the Bernabeu.

Having lured the likes of Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham to Real earlier in the decade, Perez's flagship first signing on his return was Kaka, a move seen as both a declaration of intent and a dig at his predecessor.

He has also spoken of interest in Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo, Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery, Liverpool's Xabi Alonso and Valencia duo David Villa and David Silva.

New coach Manuel Pellegrini is the man tasked with blending these talents into a team capable of challenging treble-winners Barcelona.

Kaka will not face much competition in midfield which was one of Real's weakest areas last season as they lacked flair players capable of opening up sides in big games.

His arrival will also cheer Real fans clamouring for a more entertaining brand of football, and who had often chanted "Where is Kaka?" at player presentations under Calderon over the last couple of years.

Reuters

Comment 277 - 296 of 356

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  1. bring it on real i m so happy to read that madrid fans­ are pining for a more barca style football, like­ jealous little children .... you may have kaka but­ theres only one leo messi !!!!

    From sarah, on Tue 9 Jun 11:41AM

  2. Take Lampard,Alonso and Ronaldo now and they may have a­ strong enough team to challenge

    From STEVE R, on Tue 9 Jun 11:41AM

  3. Hows it footballs fault that people are dying all over­ the world of stavation David Dixon??? Your not­ suggesting transfer fees should be used for relieving­ famine surely??? Starvation could be irradicated­ tomorrow all we have to do is stop spending our money­ on nuclear weopons get real.

    Kaka is worth the money­ coz Madrid paid it GRAMPY you probably don't have­ £60M so he ain't to you.

    Salary caps?? now­ there's a laugh. So if a club gets £100M in revenue­ and the wages are capped at £30M where does the other­ £70M go?? Directors pockets that's where. How does­ that help fans?? Why should Man United, Liverpool,­ Arsenal or Real Madrid generate income for themselves­ only to be told that they can't spend it to improve­ their chances of doing well in the future? Most of the­ reasoning here suggests it would make it fairer for the­ others. Last time I looked everyone pretty much hates­ Man United so why would they want to help the likes of­ West Ham to improve?

    I've got the best crazy­ solution. Turn the leagues upside down, make the­ Premier League into League 2, The Championship into­ League 1 etc etc. The same on mainland Europe and there­ you have it, Rochdale, Bury and Acrington Stanley for­ the champions league and Bolton, Burnley and Blackburn­ for the conference. Pity we couldn't have done it­ this year, Newcastle in the conference come on.

    From bikeraceguru, on Tue 9 Jun 11:39AM

  4. getachew44 , thAt is an ambition..for barca it is a­ reality..we will win world club cup, uefa supercup and­ spanish cup...

    From Unknown U, on Tue 9 Jun 11:32AM

  5. What a waste of money. I love football and watch it­ regularly, but please,with all the­ poverty,sickness,sadness and the recession in the world­ right now how on earth can you justify paying nearly­ 60m for a football player. Think of all the hundreds,­ if not thousands, of people who could have their lives­ changed for the better by using just a fraction of the­ 60m. Whatever happened to playing football for the love­ of the game and not for greed. Its disgraceful.

    From cameron.probert1, on Tue 9 Jun 11:29AM

  6. why didnt he sign for stoke? we can forget our top 4­ finish this year

    From NEVILLE, on Tue 9 Jun 11:23AM

  7. I think you'll find kaka has been a madrid fan from­ a young age

    From jomc_1999, on Tue 9 Jun 11:08AM

  8. to Bosanac E english sides would be screwed if they­ brought back that rule

    From jomc_1999, on Tue 9 Jun 11:06AM
  9. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    our ambition is to win 6 titles in one year
    la­ liga
    copa dela ray(cup)
    CL
    spanish super cup
    european­ super cup
    world cup

    From getachew44, on Tue 9 Jun 11:03AM

  10. BAD SIGNING by REAL MADRID...................desperate­ times........................he's good but NOT that­ good!!!

    From Richie, on Tue 9 Jun 11:02AM

  11. whats the big deal? if ac milan was in the limelight­ recently then yes, its a massive move, but the team has­ been in the shadows for the last 2 years, they've­ done nothing, its almost like henry going to barca. a­ worls class player moving on from an average team to­ potentially a better team with more will to win­ trophies. the only big deal is that real madrid have­ splashed out, which they have done before and we have­ all seen it before... real madrid are crazy anyway,­ zidane was the only decent buy. i feel that if kaka is­ worth that amount then surely ronaldo and messi are­ £20m plus of kaka?

    From Kenny L, on Tue 9 Jun 11:02AM
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I'm just pleased that Chelsea's millions did­ not get the man, whether or not Kaka'a decision was­ a football decision.

    From safcalsftm, on Tue 9 Jun 10:58AM

  13. Quote : From bosun_dele, on Tue 9 Jun 10:31AM.

    A lot­ of guys are missing the point. Teams like Real­ always­ have 2 objectives when they sign big names. The­­ commercial success and the trophies. They might not­ win­ all tropphies, but getting near it alone creates a­ kind­ of yearning amongst their fans such they buy­ season­ tickets without thinking. Barca might retain­ the Cl­ & la liga, but in the minds of majority of­ the­ football fans worldwide, Real will always be the­­ biggest team in the world (And that is why they remain­­ the wealthiest).

    Umm !!? !! Real are in more debt­ than any team in the world right now, not richest club­ and certainly not the biggest !! unless they could get­ all the money they paid for their players back which­ they won't do.

    You also missed a reason for­ buying other players, So that they cant play for anyone­ else!!??!! - they definately do that. Real haven't­ peoduced a single player through the ranks that cost­ them nothing. All players bought in at a high price, it­ hasn't won them much recently has it. 56m for KAKA­ ? never worth that much money, and they still wont be­ as good as Barca are right now. Waste of money me­ thinks, money they cant afford by the way.

    From crazyjim799, on Tue 9 Jun 10:51AM

  14. kaka madrid is uitimate club for u, we have done it­ before and we doing it again this is another golden­ oppourtunity to walk with madrid,30m after tax!!!amigo­ football is doing it once again!!! makes money?

    From frank e, on Tue 9 Jun 10:49AM

  15. No one Irepeat no one is worth £60million

    From Durham, on Tue 9 Jun 10:47AM

  16. Bad move ! never mind fella you will rot away over the­ years and then get sold to Spurs for 1.2m.

    From crazyjim799, on Tue 9 Jun 10:45AM

  17. their not looking for a replacement keeper?

    From RJ, on Tue 9 Jun 10:39AM

  18. It seems as though Terry Hall and Fun Boy Three were­ involved in this transfer deal, because THE LUNATICS­ HAVE TAKEN OVER THE ASYLUM!!

    From Singin' Ginger!!, on Tue 9 Jun 10:39AM

  19. I DO A KAKA IN MY TOILET TWICE DAILY ...I WONDER IF I­ COULD GET A TRANSFER FEE FOR IT

    From PHILLIP Z, on Tue 9 Jun 10:33AM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    yes milan was good team but now they are not
    going to­ madrid 3 steps up
    1 came the best team
    2 came the best­ league
    3 he will get better payment

    From getachew44, on Tue 9 Jun 10:33AM
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