Kaka´s City transfer deal in doubt

Manchester City’s reported world record bid for AC Milan’s Brazilian playmaker Kaka hung in the balance on Thursday with conflicting reports on how the transfer talks were progressing.

The club’s assistant manager Mark Bowen told the BBC that a deal was “very close”, but an Arabian business website insisted that talks had broken down.

Reports on Wednesday said that the Abu Dhabi-owned City had proferred a staggering 100 million pounds (110 million euros, 150 million dollars) to acquire the services of the 26-year-old former World Player of the Year and that club officials had met with their Italian counterparts in Milan.

“We have understood there have been negotiations for a fair while now and as far as we are concerned we believe a deal is very close,” Bowen, who is assistant to head coach Mark Hughes at Eastlands told the BBC.

“I’ve read a lot about his love of AC Milan – and that goes without saying – but even when people said the deal was dead, that was not our understanding.

“We are still hopeful of still signing Kaka.”

That view was not shared by Arabianbusiness.com which cited a “senior source close to the club’s owners” as saying that the deal was off.

The unnamed source was quoted as saying: “The deal is off, and the offer is no longer on the table. The club is now pursuing another striker which it is very close to signing. Manchester City is about to unveil a new striker, but he is not called Kaka.”

Kaka himself was quoted as saying that he was happy to stay at AC Milan, but he has given every indication in the past that he would love to play in the English Premiership.