Kaka world record

That’s what friends are for

So, David Beckham has been at it again. Is there anything Golden Balls cannot do? According to Brazilian star Kaka, his record-breaking decision to join Real Madrid was made following advice from his old friend.

The two had apparently had a number of conversations in recent weeks, with Beckham telling Kaka to go for it and describing the club as a great place to be. Another new career beckons for the England ace then – football agent. It would certainly be very lucrative, not that the Beckhams are short, of course. Kaka is believed to have gone to Real Madrid on a six year deal for around 56 million pounds. If true, this is a new world record in sterling and surpasses even the 45.6 million pounds Real paid for Zinedine Zidane in 2001.

Manchester City will be kicking themselves. Only this January, the club was said to be close to signing Kaka for a massive 100 million pounds and even then would have regarded it as a bargain. However, Kaka chose to stay at AC Milan because the fans wanted him to remain in Italy and it seems he would have been happy to stay for the new season.The big question now is whether Kaka was made the sacrificial lamb in these tough economic times.

He says the deal with Real Madrid was done some time ago, with only small details to iron out, such as the stringent medical which he passed with flying colours. Kaka told a press conference that he is tremendously looking forward to joining Real and sees it as a great challenge to continue playing at the top of his game. But, significantly, he also talked about the global crisis which is affecting football as well, including AC Milan. Kaka said he spoke to the board and it was decided that the best thing to do would be for them to sell him. Yes, they would lose their star player but that bank balance would look an awful lot healthier. If the 27-year-old feels any bitterness about the circumstances, he certainly isn’t showing it in public. He has already declared his loyalty to Real Madrid who will be chasing Barcelona for the Primera Liga title next season, despite having had other offers.

Kaka is the first big scalp for Real president Florentino Perez since he returned to the role and he has promised a resurgence in the club’s fortunes. He is pledging to deliver “a spectacular project” around the world’s greatest players and is reported to have a fund of around 180 million pounds to build a new Galactico era. Next on Perez’s hit list is apparently Franck Ribery who he wants to snap up from Bayern Munich at the expense of Chelsea.

Kaka is going to be a huge asset to Real Madrid as they aim to bridge the gap with Barcelona and go back to their glory days.Whatever the circumstances of the sale, both AC Milan and Kaka have handled themselves with dignity and the club’s farewell testimonial paid tribute to the role the Brazilian had played at the Italian club. Kaka’s departure would leave a huge and serious gap on the field which would be difficult to fill but it would be impossible to replace Kaka the man.