Serie A - City accuse 'bottlers' Milan

Eurosport - Tue, 20 Jan 17:39:00 2009

Kaka said he "listened to his heart" in deciding to stay at Milan, rather than accept a record-breaking move to Manchester City, but the Premier League club have angrily claimed Milan "bottled it".

FOOTBALL, Ricardo Kaka - 0

The Premier League club's audacious bid to sign the Brazilian star in a £100 million-plus deal collapsed on Monday night after Milan president Silvio Berlusconi confirmed Kaka was staying, and the player held a Milan shirt out of a window at his home to the delight of cheering fans.

City claimed they had withdrawn from the negotiations after saying the transfer was no longer viable on a number of levels.

Executive chairman Garry Cook said: "We travelled to Milan, clearly with good intentions, and I think they bottled it.

"We entered into a confidentiality and good faith agreement several weeks ago. We knew there were some steps to go through and we wanted to go through those in a professional manner.

"We respected our partners and it turned out that it this wasn't how they wanted it to be.

"Clearly it was not about a project, it was clearly about money. We actually never met the player and the questions we asked simply weren't answered."

Kaka said he never considered himself a City player, despite Milan giving him permission to hold talks about a January transfer.

And the 26-year-old revealed he is "celebrating" his decision to pledge his future to Milan and says money would not influence his future.

"I feel great in a place where everybody loves me and I'm very happy to stay," he told Italian TV.

"My family were great allowing me to take the decision independently. I never argued with my father, as somebody wrote. I have listened to my heart as many people advised me to do.

"At Milan there are many wonderful people like (Berlusconi) and Leonardo, who is much more than a director for me, he is a real friend.

"I have never asked for a raise in my salary and I will never do so. Milan were always nice to me, raising my salary whenever they felt it was fair to do it. I can only thank them for this.

"After Saturday's game many people showed me their support, I have received drawings by kids trying to convince me to stay. It was wonderful. I remember when I left Sao Paolo some fans protested against me, here they all stand by my side instead.

"I'm currently celebrating this decision at home with a couple of friends. I'm a religious person and I believe the path God decides for us is not always the most logical one.

"Milan had never considered any offer for me in the past. This time it was different and I had to think about it but then I decided to stay. My team-mates were incredible. They all tried to tell me something and stay close to me in this period.

"I haven't been a Manchester City player, not even for one minute."

Sporting Life / Eurosport

Comment 177 - 196 of 196

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. dante is a idiot ghost goal what are you going on about i bet you were not even alive in 1966 oh yeah the premiership is better than any other league in the world FACT!

    From chris, on Fri 23 Jan 5:54PM

  2. What Man City needs is truly a world class coach in the likes of SAF, Mourinho, Arsene Wenger amongst others and not buying an overrated Kaka for 100m pound.

    From bee2bee, on Wed 21 Jan 6:34AM

  3. People are naive if they believe Kaka has any loyalty to Milan - he will be at Real Madrid next season and would probably have joined City if it hadn't been for Milan's late panic after all the hysteria. He may as well try and win the UEFA and go out on some kind of high. Kaka is a lier, basically, otherwise why did he get his father involved and visit Manchester over Christmas? Kaka has revealed he is all about money, which clearly surprised City, given the player's religious pretensions - his advisors were only interested in discussing money, which is why City were right to pull the plug.

    From Paul F, on Tue 20 Jan 11:36PM

  4. Some people think that money is everything-but that is a misleading notion.
    MACHESER CITY OWNER should use his excess wealth in helping the poor and needy around the world especially in his home country.
    He should leave KAKA alone to enjoy his football in MILAN
    A C MILAN 4 LIFE

    From nchecee2005, on Tue 20 Jan 11:21PM

  5. Whats £500,000 per week ?
    I earn far more then that and I leave half an hour early on a thursday.........

    From Nicholas, on Tue 20 Jan 11:10PM

  6. Q: How many Manchester City soccer fans does it take to change a lightbulb?
    A: None - they're quite happy living in the shadows

    From OMG WTF, on Tue 20 Jan 10:26PM

  7. Q: How many Manchester City soccer fans does it take to change a lightbulb?
    A: None - they're quite happy living in the shadows

    From OMG WTF, on Tue 20 Jan 10:26PM

  8. ALL RESPECT TO U KAKA

    From hasan, on Tue 20 Jan 8:59PM

  9. to japanal2006: You're awsome ! Please don't pay any attention to cretin!

    From dante, on Tue 20 Jan 8:11PM

  10. to martincruise74: YOU ARE PATHETIC OLD CHAP! WHAT KIND A RECORD ENGLAND HAS IN WORLD CUP EVENTS! THE FAMOUS 'GHOST GOAL' AGAINST GERMANY. IF, I WAS YOU, MY FRIEND, I WOULD FASTEN MY STUPID MOUTH WITH A ZIPPER! 1}BRASIL FIVE WORLD CUPS, 2}ITALY FOUR WORLD CUPS AND TRHEE FINALS,} 3}GERMANY THREE WORLD CUPS} AND ENGLAND 1 WORLD CUP WITH A GHOST GOAL!!!

    From dante, on Tue 20 Jan 8:06PM

  11. Now compare Kaka's behavior to Ronaldo's

    From Half A Brain, on Tue 20 Jan 7:47PM

  12. Hello, Brits, What the Fox said when she could reach the grapes ! Well they are sour anyway!!!!

    From dante, on Tue 20 Jan 7:41PM

  13. Yeah, finally, a footie player more interested in what he believes in (or should I so WHO he believes in) than footie!

    From Ann C, on Tue 20 Jan 6:44PM

  14. Craig Bellamy must've thought it was going to be cool playing alongside the best midfielder he was going to see since Gerrard. Sorry Bellamy, maybe starting karokee fights with Riise wasn't a good idea after all. Enjoy the Coca Cola Championship!

    From NewarkYMCA, on Tue 20 Jan 5:39PM

  15. Comment 183
    Jealousy and envy are pouring out of your posting.
    Man City had 18 managers in 20 years during SAF 's time.
    It's time for a reality check; until Man City start to win big silverware then top class footballers who want to win things wont touch that club with a barge pole - and a smelly one at that!

    From jonathan, on Tue 20 Jan 5:21PM

  16. zulkarnain u @#$%, man city needs monetary help from these 'towelheads', without that man city is garbage and wud never rise from the dump...Atleast this guy is willing to spend some money and get superstars for your team. It will attract more fans, I'll bet Arsenal wish tey had someone like that to spend some money...most clubs would love to have the option of having a crazy rich owner.

    As for Kaka, I got one word for him - Respect!! Well done, staying in Milan and refusing to go to the shithole called Manchester. I know this is off-topic but anyway i would like to say that Alex ferguson is a dickless runt.

    From Ziaul S, on Tue 20 Jan 5:05PM

  17. japanal2006 = @#$% pot

    From Justin, on Tue 20 Jan 4:49PM

  18. japanal2006, chess is boring to watch. Italy have left 2 world cup finals virtually unwatchable.

    From Martin, on Tue 20 Jan 4:49PM

  19. Kaka belongs to Jesus not ££££££££

    From Tom R, on Tue 20 Jan 4:45PM

  20. For all of you who say that Italian football is boring, Italy has won 4 times the World cup and England????? Italian football is very tactical, like a chess game but I guess you don't understand,
    and remember with world crisis English team will soon be without they mercenary owners with no passion or faith like Abramovich, see you soon in the W.C. I mean toilet for you! Ciao

    From japanal2006, on Tue 20 Jan 4:36PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account