More about the game…less about the money.

I thought I’d share my thoughts on the recent Kaka acquisition plan by Manchester City. the guys and I spent most of the weekend discussing whether Manchester City owners were out to become the next Abramovich. We all remember the turn around and transformation that Abramovich brought about when he bought Chelsea FC. Money was pumped in, top class players bought and it showed. Chelsea literally overnight became another club in London to reckon with. Arsenal are one club who have still maintained their revered status as ‘potential winners’ ( Arsenal fans…’POTENTIAL’ winners…We at Manchester United have more trophies than you…period…so there). Coming back to the point before I start off on some Arsenal bashing, the new Arab owners were all set for some déjà vu.


There was one small snitch in the plan though. Not every club can expect money to have the same results as what happened with Chelsea a few years ago. It’s not mere money being used to buy top-class players that can transform the trophy show case of a club. We’ve seen that fail with Real Madrid when they were over-run with stars. Man City’s acquisition of Robinho seems to be a short lived honeymoon; with most newspapers indicating that there is a falling out of sorts happening. Their acquisitions of Wayne Bridge and Bellamy aren’t exactly at the same level Chelsea had with Drogba or any of the other players. And Man City’s credentials don’t exactly boast of glory in the Euro scene which is the pinnacle for most true footballers. Until Man City can show consistent performance of playing in the UEFA league for at least two years, I don’t believe they can expect to attract true talent like Kaka. Maybe they would, if he were at the fag end of his career.


Kaka’s decision to stick with AC Milan is definitely a sane one. While his move to City might definitely help his wallet and bring a new exciting player to the Premier league, it makes no sense it terms of a career. Had he moved to Man City, I would have ranked it up there with the same level of stupidity shown by glam-boy David Beckham when he moved to LA Galaxy, in the hopes of being the messiah for football ( or soccer as the Yankees call it). The potential and pace of the Italian league is by far better than that of the EPL, in my opinion. But it is only brilliant marketing that makes the EPL the most watched league world over. Ideally if Kaka were to move, it would make good career sense to look at the big 4, simply because you can ensure to have a certain level of competition at all levels and not just limit oneself to domestic endeavors.

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