Kaka's Integrity a Relief, But Threat Of Money Still Looms

To all fans of football as we know it, Kaka’s decision to remain at AC Milan must have brought a huge sigh of relief. Manchester City’s record offer of £107 million must have been tempting for Milan, given their current plans for a new stadium, but their decision to stand firm can only be praised.

Kaka’s decision however, may not have been as tough as some have suggested. Make no mistake about it, if he had accepted Manchester City’s millions, his career as a serious footballer would have been over. Even with him in their team, there would still have remained the strong possibility of Man City being relegated, and it does not take much to imagine the farcical nature of a player of the stature of Kaka stepping out onto the pitches of clubs like Doncaster Rovers or Barnsley next season.

But it would not just have been Kaka, but rather football as a whole, whose credibility would have suffered had the deal gone through. AC Milan’s stance represents a commendable stand against the rise of billionaires whose interest is not to see football flourish, but themselves. It indicates that, for the moment at least, football can’t be bought. Although such a thing could be considered to have happened at Chelsea, they were at least a title challenging team to start with, and in any case, much of their early success under Abramovich can be put down to the brilliance of Jose Mourinho, given how his successors have struggled with identical resources.

However, despite recent events, the very fact that such obscene sums can be seemingly casually offered, and that a move by Kaka to Man City was ever a possibility reinforces the serious nature of the threat posed by the Abu Dhabi consortium.

Arsenal’s pursuit of Andrei Arshavin, which only yesterday was looking almost certain to succeed, could now be derailed now that Man City have turned their eye towards him. There can be little doubt that Arshavin would prefer to be at Arsenal, a team with whom he is far more likely to taste success, but the sad thing is that the decision may well be out of his hands. Football fans across the globe will be hoping that over the coming years, they are not about to witness the demise of “real” football.