La Liga: Time for Kaka to Call Time on His Indifferent Real Madrid Career

Is there an argument that players who join Real Madrid at the height of their power struggle to exude those powers at the Bernabeu?

Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane come to mind. Their stints at Madrid were both good, though fans of Barcelona and Juventus would argue that they played their best football at their former clubs.

Kaka, the most followed athlete on Twitter, is still the apple of the eye for many of his fans, their girlfriends and perhaps their mothers, because of the manner in which the former world player of the year conducts himself.

However many admirers—save those concerned with Madrid’s bench strength—would rather he plied his trade elsewhere, given the indifferent time the world’s second most expensive player has endured.

Injuries have resulted in the Brazilian featuring in just 92 games across three seasons—with at least a third of those if not more—coming from the bench. Still, the playmaker turned wide forward under Jose Mourinho has mustered 24 goals and 31 assists since signing.

But there remains a feeling on both sides that he should be looking for a move elsewhere. Some feel that his stature and price tag occupy a spot in the starting eleven, which is better off rewarded to younger players.

Others simply feel that injuries, new signings and a lack of playing space mean that Kaka is better off elsewhere—not at a lower level but at a team prepared to make the Brazilian their fulcrum. Both parties will no doubt wonder whether a fully fit Kaka is still quick enough to scythe through the opposition, as was common place at Milan and Madrid prior to Christmas in his first season.

In truth, one could sit write forever about Kaka, a player that in his pomp combined Latin flair with European directness.

Kaka needs to get up to full speed again, whatever that speed might now be. Chances are, though, that he will only be able to accelerate once more, away from the Bernabeu.