AC Milan Look to Rectify Relationship with Fans, Target Club Hero Kaka
Tim Fontenault@Tim_Fontenault
Correspondent IJuly 25, 2012
CNN and Gazzetta dello Sport correspondent Tancredi Palmeri confirms that AC Milan are in pursuit of their former star and current Real Madrid midfielder Ricardo Kaka.
JUST IN: Milan ceo Galliani confirming interest for Kakà. In next days a visit from Kakà agent (his father) is ... sulia.com/my_thoughts/98…
— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) July 24, 2012
Kaka left Milan in 2009 due to the club's financial crisis and has since suffered with injuries and lack of favor under Los Blancos boss Jose Mourinho, with Mesut Ozil preferred in the attacking midfielder role.
The 30-year-old Brazilian became a Milan legend during his time with the club from 2003-2009. In 2007, he beat out Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for FIFA World Footballer of the Year after 10 goals in 15 UEFA Champions League matches during the 2006-07 tournament. In the final, he provided the assist for Pippo Inzaghi's match-winning goal, earning Milan a seventh European Cup.
Kaka's €68.5 million transfer stood as the record fee until a few days had passed and Real Madrid also purchased Cristiano Ronaldo. He has been able to justify the fee in his time at the Bernabeu.
After speaking with Jose Mourinho about his future at the club, he was left in Madrid when the team travelled to their first friendly of the summer (via Yahoo! Sports).
When Milan and Real Madrid meet at Yankee Stadium in New York City on August 8, it is very possible that Kaka could be back in red and black already.
Football Italia reports that two representatives of Kaka had dinner with Milan CEO Adriano Galliani on Tuesday, adding to the big frenzy caused by his comments about a potential Kaka return.
Milan chief Galliani on the possibility of re-signing Kaka: "Some loves never die, they just go round on a long journey and come back again"
— ESPN Soccernet (@ESPNSoccernet) July 24, 2012
Milan have settled their debts with the sale of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva to Paris Saint-Germain, but the reaction to these sales has been negative from the Milan fans.
ESPN confirms that Milan have offered a refund to all angry season-ticket holders who no longer want to justify the purchase of their tickets.
Since Kaka will likely be available for less than half of what Milan sold him, the purchase of their former star may be one to strongly consider. Milan need to repair the relationship with their fans, and while the return of Kaka may not fully undo what many fans see as a betrayal, it will certainly help.