Spanish Debate: Kaka - From The City Saga To The Madrid Rumour Mill

Kaka transfer sagas are nothing like buses; it's not a case of two coming at once, but one immediately following the other.

For no sooner has the fuss died down regarding the ill-fated move from AC Milan to Manchester City than Kaka is being linked with another club: Real Madrid.

That's not to say that Madrid themselves have made any noises about the Brazilian superstar. Indeed, they probably know better: former president Ramon Calderon, who resigned in disgrace last week, never quite managed to fulfill his pre-election promise to land the Milan ace for (one of) the world's biggest clubs.

Furthermore, sporting director Pedja Mijatovic is keeping a low profile. Very much Calderon's man, his coat is on a shaky nail at Valdebebas right now, and he's hardly going to commit himself to so speculative and emotive an issue. New president Vicente Boluda steered clear of the matter, too, in a morning interview with As.

So, while the shutters are down at the Santiago Bernabeu, they are most certainly up with that other key actor: the media.

As Is As As Does

Yes, this morning Spanish sports daily As stated that Kaka had not remained at AC Milan because he was unwilling to leave the San Siro. No, instead he was biding his time for a switch to his real target - Real Madrid.

A cavalcade of unnamed sources were willing to add their august quotes to this statement, chief among them a friend of David Beckham, who allegedly found the time to tell the paper that Kaka has "made his mind up" about going to the Spanish capital in June.

For all the legwork in gathering the thoughts of Beck's closest buddies, As has got a few details startlingly wrong - for example, they say Kaka's contract ends in 2011, when in fact it's two years after this.

But that's beside the point: apparently Kaka feels "betrayed" enough to "start negotiating" with Real Madrid already, even though in the goldfish bowl that is Milan there has been little sign of any presence from the Bernabeu club (and nor has Kaka's father snuck over to Madrid on his way home to Brazil.)

In other words: paper talk.

Maybe, Just Maybe

But - and I can hear the groans already - is there maybe just the tiniest, tiniest bit of credence to the idea that it might be true?

The evidence is scant, and for the most part dismissable, but a logical argument throws up some compelling cases here. Kaka is not going to Manchester City, so the argument of money can, for a start, be put aside: as some commentators rightly pointed out during the last transfer saga, Kaka is already tremendously wealthy, but is not ostentatious with it; even a three-fold pay increase is probably not as great a priority to him (yet) as the chance to play competitively at the top level for a few more years at the very least.

That said, it would be foolish to expect him to take a cut: Real Madrid, then, are one of the few sides that could offer him wage parity, bearing in mind that he is by some distance one of the world's top earners already. But in terms of ambition, even a struggling Real Madrid offer a decent option, too. AC Milan are, to put it politely, a fair distance away from a Scudetto, and (as if one needs reminding) are not even guaranteed top four competitors anymore. For all their flaws, Madrid - entering a period of rebuilding - remain consistent qualifiers for the Champions League and credible title contenders most seasons, if not this one.

So, money and ambition are met. But here's the kicker: is Kaka's true desire? One cannot say. I've said already that his jubilation as he greeted the fans outside his home upon his remaining at Milan looked genuine. This was not camera-friendly stuff - it was just friendly. The same adulation being afforded to him in Madrid, while not unthinkable, is perhaps unlikely, and in any case it won't be the same. In European terms he is a one-club man, and the media circus in Madrid will not change the fact that, money and ambition aside, he remains a Milanista.

For now.

Ewan Macdonald, Goal.com