Kaka makes the right decision for him and the right decision for our game

I have stayed out of the Kaka to Manchester City debate so far. I have looked on with mixed feelings because as a football fan living in England and watching mainly English football, I would love to see one of the best players in the world playing in my country. Equally, I think the prospect of paying £100million for anyone is at best, wrong and at worst, indefensible.

Sanity

For the moment, sanity and morality has prevailed and Kaka has chosen to pursue his football dreams with Milan rather than his financial ones with Manchester City. It is surely only a matter of time before City approach the next world superstar and offer similar terms.

I truly hope this doesn’t happen because I love football and this type of thing shows that the game is losing touch with the real world and with the most important people in the game. The genuine fans.

Dangerous

I think what is going on at Manchester City is setting a dangerous precedent. Why would Kaka, or any other top star for that matter, want to join Manchester City? The light blues are not likely to be challenging at the top of the Premier League or qualifying for the Champions League for at least two or three years even if their plans come together.

Would any player currently earning a fortune to play for a team in the top four of La Liga or Serie A or even the Premier League, want to give that up to join a club in the bottom half of the Premier League?

Financial

Clearly any player who made such a move would be doing so purely for the financial benefit. That doesn’t make them bad people but it does make them people who have no heartfelt love of the club or loyalty to it. That is the type of player that genuine fans want to see. Talent, yes of course, but dedication, so much more.

The owners of Manchester City clearly believe that they can buy success at their new toy. You would have thought that they would have learned from the experience of Real Madrid in the ‘Galacticos’ years, but they haven’t done so. Mind you, the footballing history of the owners probably doesn’t go as far back as the early 2000s!

Spirit

The great sides all have great players within them but the successful sides have much more besides. They have a spirit, a work ethic and a ‘one for all and all for one’ attitude. That cannot be bought.

People may point to the Abramovich revolution at Chelsea but it should be pointed out that there was a relatively slow progression at that club. They had finished second in the league and done well in Europe under Claudio Ranieri before Mourinho arrived on the scene. Also, consecutive managers at Chelsea have built teams around John Terry and Frank Lampard who have ensured that the team play with the attributes I have talked about.

Togetherness

What is likely to happen to that team spirit and togetherness if other decent players in the team know that the new man is earning an astonishing £500,000 per week?

In order to build anything substantial you have to put in place excellent foundations. I am very worried that Manchester City are trying to build success on absolutely no foundations. The only possible end result of that is that whatever is eventually built will come tumbling down.

High profile

City are not the only club in England treading this very dangerous path, but they are the most high profile. The owners might be in this for the long haul, but if they decide to walk away where exactly would that leave our beautiful game. It doesn’t bear thinking about.

I cannot understand why Manchester City manager Mark Hughes is looking at all of these attacking options when it is clear to everyone else that what City need to do is to stop conceding so many goals. They have scored more goals at home this season than any other team in the Premier League and only six teams have scored more away from home.

Fight

When it comes to conceding goals, eleven teams have conceded more at home but only two teams in the whole division have conceded more away. This suggests the need for an experienced, battling centre-half who will die for the cause on a wet Tuesday evening in Hull, rather than a multi-millionaire talent who may have the skills but not the fight.

I am pleased that Kaka has made the decision he has made and I hope that any other world superstars that City approach take a similar sensible approach. We must not let the money men ruin our game.