Kaka moves to Madrid ‘for life’ – which European superstar is next?
Brand Kaka is coming to the Bernabeu
09 June 2009: Kaká has signed a six-year contract and will earn €9,120,000 a year at the Santiago Bernabeu. As expected, he’ll wear the famous number “5″ shirt previously worn by legends Fabio Cannavaro and Zinedine Zidane.
“Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, Kaka, is a Real Madrid player after an agreement was reached with AC Milan. The Brazilian footballer has now successfully passed all medical tests. Kaka has signed a contract with Real Madrid for the next six seasons.” – RealMadrid.com
05 June 2009
It’s only been a couple days since new Real Madrid president Florentino Perez took office and already he’s causing quite a stir amongst some of the biggest clubs in European Football. Earlier today news broke of a confirmed deal between AC Milan and Real Madrid that will send Kaka to the Bernabeu for a shocking £56.2m fee. The move, which is supposed to be confirmed on Monday, would mark the biggest transfer fee in footballing history since Zinedine Zidane made the switch from Juventus to Real Madrid for £46m.
So Real Madrid got their man. Fine. No one should be surpsied with Perez’s first signing given the way he splashed the transfer funds during the Galacticos era at the club. However, what is surprising is the way in which he went about finalising the move, almost bullying Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani into making the deal by throwing as much cash at them as possible until he had to bite.
Like a boxer prior to a big fight, Real Madrid talked the big talk on a consistent basis with Perez throwing out names he was planning on taking off market with the intent of throwing the football world into pandemonium. And just when you thought Madrid’s talk was nothing but hot air, they went out and landed the first blow, shocking the rest of the footballing world from the start and putting many teams on high alert.
It’s not very often that you get a concession from one of the world’s richest men whilst battling it out for a top football talent, but that’s what Florentino Perez received when he won the Kaka sweepstakes. For once in his life, Roman Abramovich appears to be powerless to the Real Madrid train chugging down the tracks. Instead of crying over spilt milk, Chelsea have decided to turn their eyes towards other names like Villa and Ribery. But aren’t Madrid already tracking both of those players?
Indeed, it appears that Madrid will be everywhere this summer, chasing Ronaldo with money in their hands whilst whispering sweet nothings into the ear of David Villa. In years past this was Chelsea territory, as the London club swept through the transfer market always calling after big names like Kaka but never landing them.
In the end that’s what makes the Kaka transfer so thrilling as Perez made a claim and delivered on it. He did it before with the old Galacticos when he brought in Figo, Beckham, Ronaldo, and Zidane — but this transfer market is a different beast.
In the internet world where rumours seem to move at lightspeed, players seem to be listed with a host of teams before they can blink their eye. Most of these clubs value these players not just for their on the pitch value but for their “economic” (as Galliani put it) value as well. Hence the reason why the biggest names in football (Kaka, Ronaldo, Gerrard, Ribery, Villa, Silva, etc) rarely if ever move clubs in this day and age.
Perez seemingly broke the rules regarding big names (once again) by throwing as much money as possible at a club until they had to take the deal. People for years said Kaka would never leave Milan; they were certain he’d remain at the club and stay loyal to them. Whilst his loyalty may have still been with Milan when the deal was made, you can be certain that Milan’s loyalty changed when the money was waived in their face.
Forget the empty transfer rumours where Chelsea were chasing Villa, Silva and Kaka with £100m; Real Madrid is different this transfer season. They’re walking around with cold, hard cash, and they’re throwing it in the direction of any club willing to swap money for a household name.
At one point many journalists probably thought it ludicrous that Real Madrid would spend upward of £150m+ on transfers targets. But after watching them nab Kaka early and set their sights on Ronaldo and Ribery, it’s come to the point in the boxing match after the first punch has been thrown that you all of a sudden realise that the empty words the so-called boxed was spewing prior to the match were true. In other words: it’s time to start believing Florentino Perez.
Teams may claim that their players aren’t for sale, but if Madrid walks in the door with £45, £50 or maybe even £70m (in Ronaldo’s case), you better be damn sure that those clubs who were so against clubs such as Real Madrid poaching their talent for exorbitant amounts of money will listen.
This is the cash age where money talks, and as far as Florentino Perez is concerned he’ll let that money speak all the way to building a new Galacticos club that dwarfs the previous version. Perez will bring in the big names … it’s just a matter of getting those players to gel on the pitch. That’s the £150m question.
those who doubted Perez and the second coming of the Galacticos era eat your hearts out! yes, Madrid never really performed well during the first installment of superstars but if you had an illustrious history such Real Madrid have had, i being a supporter of the Madrid Regime since 97/98 season, can personally forgive them for not winning every trophy from 2000 to the end of 2006 when the Galacticos was broken up. Seeing as the season just gone by how they where thrashed by a Barca` team (mind you that no-one could stop) and also how Liverpool Embarrassed them twice, there is only one way for Madrid to go, AND that IS UP
ALL HAIL THE GREAT PEREZ, BRINGER OF ALL THINGS SUPERSTARED…now if we can only steal Alonso from Liverpool
I just hope rafa wont sell alonso. Please dont sell him rafa!
Sign them all Perez, the whole Galacticos thing worked so well the first time around.
http://startingeleven.blogspot.com/2009/06/real-shenanigans-new-prez-stuck-with.html
alonso has been report will move to real..
Let kaka stay at ac milan, if kaka happen to move italian
will not be interested.
Madrid and their culprits.. Stealing players, dat wat they best do. Money ain’t everything nowadays. but to some players, it does! How pathetic!
i dont think you can call it stealing when they’re paying that much money on him. not that im a fan of real madrid, and their interest in all things gold but it would be interesting to see another galacticos era again.
I’m a big believer in history, and history often repeats itself. The Galacticos failed once, it will fail again. It’s near impossible to blend all those egos, wallets and playing styles into a cohesive unit playing as one. Good luck Pellegrini, you’ll need it.
http://startingeleven.blogspot.com/2009/06/kaka-moves-to-real-madrid-perez.html
It is not true that first Galacticos failed. They won two Spanish leagues, one European Champions League (the third in only five years 98-00-02), one FIFA Club’s cup, and they played Champions League semi-final another three seasons. BUT, every project has its good years and its bad years, especially when your stars get older and older and it becomes difficult either to sell them or to ‘invite’ then to move. Barcelona had a very good season, but for the last three they won nothing. Now they start to have problems around Toure (he wants to earn more money), Etoo (he wants to stay and go for free next year), …
Don’t you think that this huge singing may cause big financial problems to Real Madrid considering Spain has a 25% unemployment rate (economist.com) which will hugely dampen ticket sales even if Kaka is playing.
Here is a good rebuttal to this article:
http://thestamfordblues.co.cc/?p=419
I think this signing will cause big financial problems.
So the pandemonium started. Buying and selling players is part of the game, but the problem here is, as long as the cash flow is huge people like Perez can do whatever they want. I think Real Madrid is a terrific club, one where all superstars come from other teams. All their success is based on buying the best players out there in their prime, it seems they can’t produce their own players which for a club as “big” as Real Madrid is ridiculous. Aside from Raul (which I believe is the most overated player ever)and Casillas they don’t have anything else. I know Man Utd, Barcelona and Chelsea spend big time too, but their players really become superstars once they are developed in these teams, like Ronaldo became huge at Man Utd or Lampard at Chelsea, but Madrid always has to buy the best because they are incapable of producing the best which I believe is pathetic. The worst part is that almost every player wants to play for Real and I don’t understand why, is not the best club in the world. It used to be, but it’s not anymore, and pretty much like Barcelona, once the player is past his prime they let him out through the small door like if he had never helped you succed, like Figo or Ronaldinho. I know this may happen in every club from time to time, but it always happens in the two “biggest” clubs in Spain. Now, I might be wrong in a few things, but the bottom line is Real Madrid is not a soccer team is a cash cow led by a man who believes that throwing cash at teams is the solution to his problems.
The only reason the first Galacticos era failed was because Perez would not spend on defensive players (also causing Makelele to depart). I think Galacticos can succeed if Perez learned his lesson.
Rob, you have a point but you are dreadfully incorrect in some regards. Casillas, the best goalkeeper in the world, and Guti, acknowledging his attitude problems, are also Real Madrid youth products. It is true that Real Madrid needs to develop more young talent, but how exactly can you say that Raul is overrated? How? Seriously.
The article from the Chelsea fansite someone mentioned seems to be a rather poor attempt at justifying the Blues’ apparent jealousy. Isn’t Kaka the player that Chelsea wish they could have. And honestly, out of all big clubs, Chelsea has the least right to criticize Madrid. I mean, really, Chelsea this season just reeked of big name Brazilians. Robinho, anyone? Talk about hypocrisy.
Real Madrid can sign all these big players because they have the money to do that. I mean, it is not Florentino’s money, but Real Madrid money. That is the big difference between Real Madrid and Chelsea, Man. Utd. or Man. City. English clubs were bought by rich man that can spend their own money on players, like Abramovich. BUT, Real Madrid is not the property of Florentino. Actually, it is a non-profit organisation. All the money Real Madrid earns has to be dedicated to their activity (football and basketball). The money -or the profit- can’t go outside the Club (to Florentino’s hands or whatever).
Appart from that, the 20% of unemployment rate does not affect Real Madrid accounts. Probably there is a small percentage of tickets that were sold in the past to people that nowadays are unemployed, but the main source of business for Real Madrid is outside Spain: South America, USA, and Asia. That is why they need to have the best players, to be more competitive and to have more earnings.
I JUST BELONG TO MONEY…..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I HATE U KAKA….!!!!!!!