Man City's staggering Kaka offer makes incredible reading after 115 charges guilty verdict
It was a move involving figures that were simply unheard of at the time and offered an early glimpse of Manchester City's enormous spending power, which is now very much under the spotlight.
Back in January 2009, as the transfer window entered its final stages, the deep-pocketed Manchester City launched an unprecedented £100million bid to sign the highly sought-after Kaka from AC Milan.
Backed by their new billionaire owners from Abu Dhabi, the club were willing to spend big. In fact, they tried and failed to sign David Villa, Gianluigi Buffon and Thierry Henry before chasing a deal for Kaka.
READ MORE: Man City's 'irrefutable evidence' in 115 charges case disclosed for the first time
Advert
Garry Cook, who was City's executive chairman at the time, claimed "ludicrous" demands prevented the above transfers from going ahead.
Then again, the club went and made a staggering bid for Ballon d'Or winner Kaka, which was said to be worth £50million more than the then-world record fee Real Madrid paid to Juventus for Zinedine Zidane.
They also offered the Brazilian wages of £500,000 per week, an extraordinary salary that, when adjusted for inflation, would be worth more than £800,000 a week today.
Why Kaka turned down Manchester City
Kaka was tempted enough to seriously consider a move to Manchester. Speaking to FourFourTwo in 2017, he gave a fascinating insight into how close he came to joining.
"The negotiations between City and I went very far indeed," he told FourFourTwo. "It came to the point where all of the numbers and the finer details had been discussed. The offer was on the table. The only thing separating City and I was my final word.
"The wages I had been offered were much, much higher than what I was earning with Milan. In moments like those, you begin to picture how your future will look. It’s only natural.
"I found myself wondering what my life playing in England would be like, what my routine at this new club would be, how difficult it would be for my kids and my wife to move home. All of these thoughts were swirling around inside my head.
"I prayed many times during this period. Praying has always been something that has helped me find the right balance in my life. And, most importantly, find peace in my decisions."
However, Kaka had reservations about joining a club whose ambitious project was still very much in its infancy. For him, money wasn't the be-all and end-all. He was also settled in Milan, a city that showed him a huge amount of love.
The moment when Kaka decided to stay at AC Milan
At the time, Milan fans protested outside the club's headquarters over his possible sale, a show of support that meant a lot to the player. In fact, they gathered outside his home in an attempt to convince him to stay.
Kaka was in the final stages of negotiations when that happened.
"It was nice to understand how much they cared about me and how much they wanted to continue our adventure together," he said in the aforementioned interview. "They played a big part, they helped me."
A phone call with his father also took place in that moment. He remembers it well. "'Dad,’ I said firmly. ‘You can tell them that I'm not going for now. Tell them we’ll see what happens in the future. My decision is to stay with Milan. That’s my final call."
That summer, Kaka joined Real Madrid in a deal worth £56 million. Manchester City, meanwhile, spent almost £124 million on new players, with Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Joleon Lescott joining for big fees.
In fact, City spent around £1.2bn on new players in the transfer windows between summer 2009 and January 2018.
This week, the club were found guilty of inflating its commercial revenue by £830 million between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons. In that period, they recouped less than £400 million in player sales.
READ MORE: Pep Guardiola breaks silence with clear message to Man City after guilty verdict on 114 charges
Topics: Kaka, AC Milan, Serie A, Man City, Premier League
Jack Kenmare