Will Kaka Leave?

On June 9th 2009, Ricardo Kaka becomes a Real Madrid player after siging for a fee around £57 million. This marks the begining of what looks to be a huge spending spree by returning president Florentino Perez. Perez pledges big money transfers to the fans to bring back European and domestic glory after a disappointing season for Madrid and also the treble winning season by rivals Barcelona. Players like Ronaldo and Benzema soon followed although Real Madrid failed to win a trophy that year. His season wasn't the best either having to miss some of it with injury.

His second season with Madrid saw the arrival of new manager Jose Mourinho having just won the Champions League with Inter. (beating Barcelona along the way was a key reason for his appointment according to others). The spree continued with Angel Di Maria, Sami Khedira, Sergio Canales, Pedro Leon and Ricardo Carvalho. Mesut Ozil was bought by the club after having a good World Cup with Germany. He was considered to be the best rising star out of the tournament . August 5th 2010 and Kaka had undergone surgery for yet another injury initially believed to keep him out for four months. Mesut Ozil began to show what he was bought for with some key dazzling performances for Los Merengues. Mourinho seems to have gotten the best out of the young German for the season in place of Kaka. Ozil has had times drifted out to the right with his left foot, something we rarely see Kaka do. After a lengthy eight months out, Kaka returned to action coming off the bench against Getafe in January. He soon scored against Villarreal in a 4-2 win. In March however, he picked up another injury which kept him out a few weeks. He made his return in style scoring two goals in a 3-6 win over Valencia. Despite his performance, Ozil was still given the nudge ahead of him in the champions league classico in which Madrid lost 0-2 to Barcelona. Kaka stayed on the bench for that game and people began to question why he was never used. Mourinho was sent to the stands for comments to the referee for a red card on Pepe. After the match he said that the sending off did not enable him to complete his game plan. He said that Kaka was supposed to be substituted later on in the match.

One may question that will Kaka be happy at Madrid even if it means sitting on the bench? Mourinho looks as if he prefers Ozil to Kaka for that attacking midfield role and Kaka may not be given as much chances as he would have thought. We have to remember that this is the former World Player of the Year that we are talking about and he may choose the choice of leaving to get more first team opportunities in the latter stages of his career. My view is that the decision is in Kaka's hands. If up to Madrid, he most likely would not be sold as Mourinho sees him as a super sub in games. Also with Kaka possibly on the bench, he gives Mourinho one of the strongest benches in football with plenty of talent to choose from. If he chooses to leave however, the papers are saying that there are about two or three possible suitors after the player. Both AC and Inter Milan are said to be interested in the player. One may question if Milan will really try to acquire a player that they let go of only a few years ago. Inter looks the more realistic option as Sneidjer may be out this summer and the Nerazurri may look towards Kaka. Chelsea are also said to be in the race. Manager Carlo Ancelloti knows the player well from their days at Milan. There also looks like Chelsea will be having a makeover this summer with new players to come and some to leave. However the fact that Kaka is already 29 years old may not convince Roman Abramovich to splash the cash for a player whose best years look behind him. My guess on this is that it's all up to the player himself. Will he choose to stay on the bench or leave to get more playing opportunities. Real Madrid will certainly not want to let a player go who cost them alot of money and also who has only been around for two years.

Exit Carlo Ancelotti, Enter Leonardo

Carlo Ancelotti has officially left AC Milan and Leonardo has taken over as manager of the club. Rumors have been flying about that Ancelotti is going to be the new Chelsea manager. I'm glad that going into the off season we know who our manager will be next season and that it is someone whom the players are all familiar with. If you are unfamiliar with Leonardo he played for AC Milan during the 1997-2001 and 2002-2003 seasons. He also spent time at PSG, São Paulo FC and Flamengo. Leonardo was a main factor in getting Kaka and Pato to sign with Milan and has been techniqual director of AC Milan since 2008.

I'm not certain that this is the correct appointment for the club but it is time Milan to go in a different direction. As manager of AC Milan from 2001-today (May 31, 2009) Carlo Ancelotti won everything there was to win in Italy. Coppa Italia: 2002–03, Serie A: 2003–04, Italian Supercup: 2004, UEFA Champions League: 2002–03, 2006–07, UEFA Super Cup: 2003, 2007 and the FIFA Club World Cup: 2007. I wish Carlo good luck where ever he chooses to manage next.

Now as a Milan fan I am anxiously awaiting the upcoming week and praying the articles I've been reading in AS and Marca about Kaka signing for Real Madrid this summer are not true. I would like to see Kaka and Ronaldinho both stay at Milan and play together next season. I do think the reason Ronaldinho wasn't played much during the second half of the season was because Ancelotti did not like him and would at times play a very aging Seedorf over Ronaldinho who helped the club so much at the beginning of the season to be completely dropped in the second was unexceptable. What are your thoughts on Kaka, Ronaldinho and Leonardo?