Kaka move to Manchester City from AC Milan 'not impossible'

City have reportedly sent a delegation, thought to include chief executive Garry Cook and chief operating officer Paul Aldridge, to discuss a possible £100 million move with both the Italian side and the player, who could stand to earn a staggering £15m a year net or £500,000 a week gross.

While City's Arab owners harbour hopes of completing any possible deal before the transfer window closes at the end of this month, sources inside the club believe the move is more likely to go through in the summer.

That view was reinforced on Tuesday when Milan's owner, the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, said he knew nothing of the transfer and revealed that he regards the Brazilian to be untransferable.

He said: "I know nothing about a Manchester City offer for Kaka. I think he's not transferable and given that is the case, he will stay at Milan."

With speculation mounting that City will pay whatever it takes to lure the 26-year-old away from Milan, Kaka's spokesman, Diogo Kotscho, has stepped in stating the player will not be swayed by money and that he will only join City if they prove they can achieve even greater goals than the Rossoneri.

Kotscho said: "To accept Manchester City, Kaka wouldn't do a matter based on money, but to the competitiveness of the English side.

"Ricky would like a strong side. He would never do something like Robinho, who, just to earn more, contented himself with not a winning solution.

"It's not impossible. But I think it will be very, very difficult to have a deal with Milan."

The stumbling block for any club could be Milan's reluctance to let the Brazilian leave, although Kotscho confirmed Kaka wants to play in the Premier League at some stage.

And he would consider other clubs if City's offer does not suit either Milan or himself.

"Yes he will," said Kotscho. "But as I said, we have to have a deal between the two clubs and negotiations with AC Milan for Kaka ... is a very difficult challenge."

Milan's director, Adriano Galliani, has already indicated that his side, for whom David Beckham made his league debut on Monday against Roma, have finished their activity in the January transfer window, but the Eastlands negotiators will be hoping to open up the possibility of a summer move instead.

If City's mission proves fruitless, either in the short or long term, it will lend the transfer window an even deeper air of anticlimax for the club.

The richest club in the world have been linked with more than 40 players from all over the planet this month alone. So far, though, the only deal done is for Chelsea’s reserve left-back, Wayne Bridge, at an inflated £12 million cost.

The club’s negotiating position, insiders admit, has been weakened considerably by their very public takeover by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. West Ham, Blackburn and countless others can hold out for top dollar for their star men, safe in the knowledge that inflated fees will not scare away manager Mark Hughes and chief executive Cook.

West Ham are believed to be holding out for £12m for Craig Bellamy and the same for Scott Parker, while it is understood that Blackburn are asking for more than £18m for Roque Santa Cruz.

In effect, City’s wealth will force them to pay around £15m more than another club on the open market, for that trio, to two clubs in dire need of cash to swell their coffers.

All three deals, currently at an impasse, are still likely to be completed before the window closes. West Ham and Blackburn are, essentially, employing the same technique as that used by Tottenham to make sure Manchester United coughed up the full asking price for Dimitar Berbatov.

One Italian agent admits the Eastlands side are being used as a bargaining tool in all of Europe’s major leagues as players seek better deals with their current clubs or an accelerated transfer to another.

He said: “Everyone knows that Manchester City have lots of money, so if an agent wants to get his client a new contract, he mentions that maybe the Premier League team want to buy the player. That means more money is on the table because Manchester City can offer the best wages.

“Or if one Italian club wants to sell a player to another club, they say to the press that City are interested. The other teams then know they have to act. Many of the players they are linked with they have not even looked at or spoken about. City are useful because it scares the clubs into action.

“There is always one team who suffers like this. It used to be Milan and Juventus, then it was Inter when they had a lot of money to spend. Then maybe Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich. When Chelsea started spending under Roman Abramovich, every player in Italy was linked with them.

“The perception in Europe, for fans, agents, players and teams is that the Premier League is full of money. Maybe that is becoming less true because the pound is getting weaker and the Euro stronger. But for now, everybody knows where the money is, and nobody has more money than Manchester City.”

Money game

Five other big-money transfers

Zinedine Zidane: Juventus to Real Madrid, £46m, 2001

Luis Figo: Barcelona to Real, £38m, 2000

Hernan Crespo: Parma to Lazio, £35.5m, 2000

Gianluigi Buffon: Parma to Juventus, £32.6m, 2001

Robinho: Real Madrid to Manchester City, £32.5m, 2008