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Published: Thu, 15 January 2009, 05:10, also tagged: sport, football, soccer, manchester united, premier league, manchester city, kaka, mark hughes, city of manchester stadium, sheikh mansour bin zayed al nahyan, khaldoon al mubarak, ricardo izecson dos santos leite
The football world is buzzing with reports of Manchester City making an astronomical bid for Brazilian footballing superstar, and 2007 World Footballer of the Year – Kaká, real name Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite. Man City have reportedly made an offer in the region of £100 to get Kaká playing at the City of Manchester Stadium.
This is a local team, I'd love to see such amazing talent playing so close to home and in my countries domestic league but I'm not sure if the price tag sets a dangerous precedent – not only for football transfer fees in general but also Manchester City's future transfer options.
Manchester City are in a sticky situation because they could be held to ransom when showing interest in players in the future. They are not a top flight European team and they are not in the Champions League or Premier League top four which makes attracting talent based on prestige and success very difficult, especially with neighbours like Champions League holders Manchester United. The owner's very deep pockets and the potential of one day achieving football success are the only attractive benefits to world class players who could play in the best leagues in the world for the best teams.
Published: Wed, 16 July 2008, 03:04, also tagged: sport, england, football, italy, soccer, ronaldinho, barcelona, brazil, spain, premier league, manchester city, noel gallagher, kaka, transfer news
Manchester City has missed out on what would have been a huge signing for them. Ronaldinho is set to sign on the dotted line for the Italian giants AC Milan. Man City had bid £25.5 million for the Brazillian play maker but this offer has been declined by Barcelona in favour of a reported £14.6 million bid from AC Milan. A possible reason for this decision is that Ronaldinho will feel more comfortable playing alongside his countryman Kaka.
The question is: “is Ronaldinho the player he once was?” - my guess is no. He had a poor final season at Barcelona missing most of it through injury and then being indifferent the rest of the time, seemingly upstaged by the phenomenal Lionel Messi. It is quite possible he will be overshadowed by Kaka at AC Milan.
Here’s a choice quote from Noel Gallagher: