Agent: Kaka dreams of playing in MLS
Brazilian superstar Kaka is unsettled at Real Madrid, possibly on the way out of the la Liga champions. And while a return to AC Milan is reportedly a distinct possibility this summer, somewhere down the road the former FIFA World Player of the Year will probably make a move further West – all the way to MLS.
At least, that is according to Kaka’s agent Diogo Kotscho, who told the Post that his client wants to not just live in the United States but play in MLS. He made no promises about what city or what season, but he insisted the desire is very real.
“We don’t speak about negotiation even if it is or not rumor. What I can say to you right now is that Kaka have a dream to live in US and play in MLS,’’ Kotscho told the Post. “If isn’t now, in the future probably he will join MLS.’’
Kaka’s affinity for the United States is well-known. He vacations in Miami, and reportedly already bought a posh pad in midtown Manhattan.
This story states that Kaka bought into the Setai Fifth Avenue, a towering new Midtown condo/hotel with a reputation of being aimed squarely at foreign buyers. And they could probably field a pretty good pickup team just from tenants that include ex-Arsenal star Patrick Vieira.
AC Milan is reportedly trying to bring Kaka back to the San Siro, where he played when he was voted FIFA World Player of the Year in 2007; although AC MIlan CEO Adriano Galliani told gazzetta.it "It is 100 percent impossible for Kaka to return to AC Milan. He still has a three-year contract with Real Madrid and a salary which is impossible to pay with the Italian tax system.''
At just 30-years-old, Kaka presumably has several good seasons ahead of him, enough that he'd still be a coup for any MLS team even at the end of that Real Madrid deal, even moreso if he could get out of it early. And while neither Kotscho nor MLS commented on any negotiations, he’d be a game-changing acquisition even if he arrived after the World Cup in his native Brazil.
German star Lothar Matthaus remains the only other FIFA World Player of the Year to ever play in MLS, and he was a venerable 39 years old by the time he finally suited up for the MetroStars, nearly a decade older than Kaka is now.
Runnersup Hristo Stoichkov (34 upon his arrival), David Beckham (32) and Thierry Henry (32) remain among the biggest names in league history, with the former two having led the Fire and Galaxy respectively to MLS Cup titles during their stay and the latter trying to accomplish the same with the Red Bulls.
There are plenty of Designated Player rumors swirling around MLS, from the aging Italian Alessandros – Nesta and Del Piero – to Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko. The latter married American model Kristen Pazik eight years ago in D.C. and has long been linked with a move stateside; but none would move the needle more than Kaka, or be a more perfect for tor Henry’s Red Bulls.
New York GM Erik Soler has flatly ruled out a move for German midfielder Michael Ballack, who jilted the expansion Montreal Impact in hopes of a move to a Red Bulls team that has no interest in him or a Galaxy club that has no room for him. Soler was noncommittal on Irish midfielder Stephen Ireland, who appears surplus to requirements at Premier League side Aston Villa.
But whoever the Red Bulls bring in this summer – and both Soler and head coach Hans Backe have hinted that a third Designated Player to join Henry and Rafa Marquez is likely – they would be well-served to lay the groundwork on Kaka.
It took the departed Erik Stover years of pursuit to consummate the deal for Henry. With the Red Bulls’ well-documented attendance woes and inability to get traction in the crowded New York sports market, and the host of Brazilians and Brazilian-speaking Portuguese in the Newark’s nearby Ironbound section, Kaka would be worth the same.
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