Manchester City launch £91m bid for Kaka

[Elano]

I doubt Messi will leave for Milan.

In the future Messi could be in milan (the city) with f.c. inter,however i highly doubt he will leave barcelona in the next 4/5 years

[Elano]

I wonder who MIlan will bring in to replace him with 100 Mill!? Ronaldo and Messi if they wanted to...

ronaldo....cristiano ? he costs 100 million alone.
and messi even more.
 

[da_notorious_mack]

At least players like Torres has always said he wanted to play for Liverpool.

and do you really believe him ?
c'mon....

Torres talks to Martin Samuels

There is a line in a song by West Coast rappers, The Pharcyde. ‘I gotta kick somethin’ that means somethin’,’ they say. 
 
Different cultures, true, a world between south central Los Angeles and Liverpool, via the working class town of Fuenlabrada, on the outskirts of Madrid, but Fernando Torres would surely recognise the sentiment.
 
In an age when footballers are willingly traded like precious commodities, to win elections or put a business on the map, Torres is different. He is not comfortable being merely an expensive gun for hire. His first club, Atletico Madrid, is the subject of a lifelong devotion to the extent that he cannot imagine playing for another team in Spain.
 
On signing for his second, Liverpool, he was motivated to make a similar connection, and now pledges the same career loyalty. A cynic would argue that he is merely trying this red shirt on for size, that the commitment of a player imported for a club record transfer fee cannot compare to that of a stalwart such as Steven Gerrard or Jamie Carragher.
 
Perhaps this is true; but Torres has a manner that seems sincere. He is not so desperate to fit in that he has betrayed his birthright. When he speaks (excellent) English he still sounds more Spanish than scouse, but the words that tumble out reveal a man who is looking for kinship with more than just a random millionaires’ club.
 
Torres, too, wants to kick something that means something.
 
"Imagine 10 years after you stop playing, you go back, you look around, you are not in any picture, you have no medals, no trophies; it is like you played for nothing," he said. "You may have a fantastic car, a fantastic home, but what does it matter?
 
"The biggest ambition in my career is still to win the European Cup. I want to have a picture of that to look at later; I want to have that medal. You can have a contract that is better than your friends, but no player looks back and says: "I won more money".
 
Not that Torres is blase about financial matters. He was brought up in Fuenlabrada, a small city on the outskirts of Madrid, most famous in macho Spain for putting skirts on the stick man signs that indicate pedestrian crossing routes, in an attempt to make them gender-friendly.
 
Torres' father, Jose, worked but his mother, Flori, devoted her day to making sure 10-year-old Fernando got to and from Atletico Madrid's training camp at Orcasitas, an arduous trip.
 
"We had to get a train, then a bus, then walk through a park and she did it two times a day," he recalled.
 
Torres took his devotion to Atletico from his grandfather and was well schooled in what it meant to follow the underdog. "It was more about the feeling than the results," he said. Just as well, really, for the club living in the shadow of mighty Real Madrid.
 
"It was very hard to go through life as a small boy supporting Atletico."
 
Torres said: "For all the other kids at the end of the season, their team was on parade with trophies. For Atletico, it was different, but I thought we represented something else: the workers of the city, the people that did not have a lot of money, who had it hard and then, when work was over, went to watch their team.
 
"That was wonderful. Since then, what my club represents is very important. Sometimes Atletico felt small, because next door there was Real Madrid, probably the best club in the world for trophies and fame.
 
"But when you were at our stadium it was different. There you could see that everybody was so proud of their team, they were on our side in that moment and then Monday - wake up, back to work.
 
"Real Madrid represented something else. Glamour, big stars. But I came from a working-class family. Real did not mean as much to me. My father worked every day, my brother and sister had to travel many hours to study, so Atletico were for people like us.
 
"Still, I do not think I could play for Real Madrid. I feel if you have the chance to play for Real Madrid you probably have a chance to play for a lot of other clubs, too — so I would pick another club.
 
"It would be hard for me to live in Madrid with all the Atletico fans. I understand that. I still feel like an Atletico fan and when Liverpool go back to play Real Madrid in the Champions League, I will play as if I am an Atletico fan."
 
Considering this, one might think Torres would connect more with the lot of Evertonians on Merseyside, but on signing for Liverpool he tapped instantly into the DNA of the club and the city, the way it contrives to be big, but not flash.
 
Torres has a highly marketable image, a website, and a brand logo which cockily inserts the number nine between his first and last names, but such paraphernalia is pretty standard for a leading sportsman these days. On all other fronts he remains grounded, unblinkingly in tune with his adopted home.
 
"Liverpool is a massive club in reputation, but as soon as I came here it felt like Atletico to me," he said. "It is a working city, an honest city. The people work all week, and on Saturday they want to go to Anfield and watch the best team in the world. I had many offers in football, I had many big clubs to choose from, so I decided on something more than football.
 
"The people here, the history, the way everybody comes together, I looked at that and I thought we have the chance to make this one of the greatest clubs in the world, again.
 
"Now I feel Liverpool is my English club, the way Atletico is my Spanish club. I would not like to play for another English or Spanish club. This feeling is very important to me."
 
One is immediately reminded of Ruud Gullit who, as manager of Newcastle United, dismissed the significance of the Tyne-Wear derby because Sunderland was a different city. No chance of Torres making a similar mistake about the importance to Liverpool fans of, say, any match against Manchester United.
 
If anything, Liverpool's imported players can become too aware of the passions around certain games, as Javier Mascherano's performance at Old Trafford last season indicated.
 
In an era when players kiss the badge one week and ask for a transfer the next, however, it is hard to discourage one who is attempting to turn a contracted job into a vocation.
 
"When I arrived I knew that Liverpool were a massive club, but that is all I knew," Torres added. "I could not tell you the history or what we stood for; but then my first three days were spent in an apartment. I couldn't go out because I was waiting for my medical and it was all a big secret, so the club sent me a lot of DVDs and books about Liverpool's history.
 
"I was there with my girlfriend and we were watching and trying to read, because it was all in English, and that is how I found out it was so much bigger than I knew. I read about Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush, and I felt so proud to be sharing in this club.
 
"When I was with Atletico I was made captain at the age of 19, which was too soon really. It mattered a lot to me and I was disappointed when people came in who knew nothing about us, nothing of our history; they did not understand what made our club different.
 
"Looking back, we should have done what Liverpool did, because if you know your club, if you know what it stands for and if you are proud of it, you will play better because it will mean something to you.
 
"You have to know what club you are playing for or you just play for yourself. Every time I put on a Liverpool shirt, I know it is more than just a football game."
 
The nuances are gleaned over time. Torres said that when he arrived his target was to win the Champions League, but the locals quickly put him straight.
 
"They would say, "No, no, the Premier League, we must win the Premier League"," he recalled. "So now I feel that way, too. I know about this club. I know how important it is to win the Premier League after 19 years. I know that if Manchester United win the League this season it will be 18 titles for us and 18 for them, so we cannot let that happen.
 
"I know that even though Chelsea and Arsenal are top teams, our biggest match of any season is with Manchester United. I know how important it is to win against Everton, too.
 
"I imagine to win the League here would be like winning the European Championship with Spain after 44 years. We became heroes of the country, just 23 people.
 
"There were 15 kilometres from the airport to the heart of Madrid and it was like a red sea, millions of people in the city centre all with Spanish flags, people stopping dead on the opposite side of the motorway to cheer us as we went by, getting out of their cars, standing on their cars.
 
"It was strange. After the first game when we beat Russia 4-1, I did think it could be like every other tournament for us, when we start by playing well, but then nothing happens.
 
"Then when we won our other group games we began to believe in ourselves and the turning point was against Italy in the quarter-finals. Throughout history, Italy beat Spain. We have the game, we have the players, but we always lose.
 
"And then, when we beat Italy, and on penalties, I think we celebrated more than we did when we won the Final, because we knew. That was the key.
 
"It is the same with Liverpool. Winning at Chelsea, winning against Manchester United, these are the results that give us belief — then, if we get a result at Old Trafford in March, it will be our Italy game."
 
And it will, for Fernando Torres, most certainly kick something that means something. 

[Jome]

Im loving all these Green eyed Monsters 

And Bez what fuckin footballer does not play for the money???
ffs welcome to 2009

Stop hating on us, worry about your own clubs What are probaby in debt.

Oh and i would just like to say Thank you to everyone who keeps filling there car up with fuel
M.C.F.C are forever greatful 

Hard to say if you're being serious or just winding posters up..

It's safe to say that City is quickly ruining Football when they're placing bids exceeding a total of £100 mill and offering £500K in weekly wages.
And now they've nearly signed the highly average Dutch midfielder De Jong for the laughable amount £15 mill, when he's worth maybe £5-6 ?

Arab negotiations must start with: "How much would you like for this player?"

[Adam Donnelly]

Im loving all these Green eyed Monsters 

And Bez what fuckin footballer does not play for the money???
ffs welcome to 2009

Stop hating on us, worry about your own clubs What are probaby in debt.

Oh and i would just like to say Thank you to everyone who keeps filling there car up with fuel
M.C.F.C are forever greatful 

Arab negotiations must start with: "How much would you like for this player?"

Yeah thats right because we can
Now shut up fuckin moaning

MCFC Football killers muhahaha

[Jome]

Ahh, so you were being serious.. I thought you were smarter, my mis-judgment.

[Adam Donnelly]

Ahh, so you were being serious.. I thought you were smarter, my mis-judgment.

Just sick of people having a pop at my club, Just because it's not United or Chelsea with all the money.
Fuck me there even blaming us for the fuckin credit crunch now.
like i say, people should worry about owners who cant afford there club.

[Elano]

At least players like Torres has always said he wanted to play for Liverpool.

and do you really believe him ?
c'mon....

Torres talks to Martin Samuels

There is a line in a song by West Coast rappers, The Pharcyde. ‘I gotta kick somethin’ that means somethin’,’ they say. 
 
Different cultures, true, a world between south central Los Angeles and Liverpool, via the working class town of Fuenlabrada, on the outskirts of Madrid, but Fernando Torres would surely recognise the sentiment.
 
In an age when footballers are willingly traded like precious commodities, to win elections or put a business on the map, Torres is different. He is not comfortable being merely an expensive gun for hire. His first club, Atletico Madrid, is the subject of a lifelong devotion to the extent that he cannot imagine playing for another team in Spain.
 
On signing for his second, Liverpool, he was motivated to make a similar connection, and now pledges the same career loyalty. A cynic would argue that he is merely trying this red shirt on for size, that the commitment of a player imported for a club record transfer fee cannot compare to that of a stalwart such as Steven Gerrard or Jamie Carragher.
 
Perhaps this is true; but Torres has a manner that seems sincere. He is not so desperate to fit in that he has betrayed his birthright. When he speaks (excellent) English he still sounds more Spanish than scouse, but the words that tumble out reveal a man who is looking for kinship with more than just a random millionaires’ club.
 
Torres, too, wants to kick something that means something.
 
"Imagine 10 years after you stop playing, you go back, you look around, you are not in any picture, you have no medals, no trophies; it is like you played for nothing," he said. "You may have a fantastic car, a fantastic home, but what does it matter?
 
"The biggest ambition in my career is still to win the European Cup. I want to have a picture of that to look at later; I want to have that medal. You can have a contract that is better than your friends, but no player looks back and says: "I won more money".
 
Not that Torres is blase about financial matters. He was brought up in Fuenlabrada, a small city on the outskirts of Madrid, most famous in macho Spain for putting skirts on the stick man signs that indicate pedestrian crossing routes, in an attempt to make them gender-friendly.
 
Torres' father, Jose, worked but his mother, Flori, devoted her day to making sure 10-year-old Fernando got to and from Atletico Madrid's training camp at Orcasitas, an arduous trip.
 
"We had to get a train, then a bus, then walk through a park and she did it two times a day," he recalled.
 
Torres took his devotion to Atletico from his grandfather and was well schooled in what it meant to follow the underdog. "It was more about the feeling than the results," he said. Just as well, really, for the club living in the shadow of mighty Real Madrid.
 
"It was very hard to go through life as a small boy supporting Atletico."
 
Torres said: "For all the other kids at the end of the season, their team was on parade with trophies. For Atletico, it was different, but I thought we represented something else: the workers of the city, the people that did not have a lot of money, who had it hard and then, when work was over, went to watch their team.
 
"That was wonderful. Since then, what my club represents is very important. Sometimes Atletico felt small, because next door there was Real Madrid, probably the best club in the world for trophies and fame.
 
"But when you were at our stadium it was different. There you could see that everybody was so proud of their team, they were on our side in that moment and then Monday - wake up, back to work.
 
"Real Madrid represented something else. Glamour, big stars. But I came from a working-class family. Real did not mean as much to me. My father worked every day, my brother and sister had to travel many hours to study, so Atletico were for people like us.
 
"Still, I do not think I could play for Real Madrid. I feel if you have the chance to play for Real Madrid you probably have a chance to play for a lot of other clubs, too — so I would pick another club.
 
"It would be hard for me to live in Madrid with all the Atletico fans. I understand that. I still feel like an Atletico fan and when Liverpool go back to play Real Madrid in the Champions League, I will play as if I am an Atletico fan."
 
Considering this, one might think Torres would connect more with the lot of Evertonians on Merseyside, but on signing for Liverpool he tapped instantly into the DNA of the club and the city, the way it contrives to be big, but not flash.
 
Torres has a highly marketable image, a website, and a brand logo which cockily inserts the number nine between his first and last names, but such paraphernalia is pretty standard for a leading sportsman these days. On all other fronts he remains grounded, unblinkingly in tune with his adopted home.
 
"Liverpool is a massive club in reputation, but as soon as I came here it felt like Atletico to me," he said. "It is a working city, an honest city. The people work all week, and on Saturday they want to go to Anfield and watch the best team in the world. I had many offers in football, I had many big clubs to choose from, so I decided on something more than football.
 
"The people here, the history, the way everybody comes together, I looked at that and I thought we have the chance to make this one of the greatest clubs in the world, again.
 
"Now I feel Liverpool is my English club, the way Atletico is my Spanish club. I would not like to play for another English or Spanish club. This feeling is very important to me."
 
One is immediately reminded of Ruud Gullit who, as manager of Newcastle United, dismissed the significance of the Tyne-Wear derby because Sunderland was a different city. No chance of Torres making a similar mistake about the importance to Liverpool fans of, say, any match against Manchester United.
 
If anything, Liverpool's imported players can become too aware of the passions around certain games, as Javier Mascherano's performance at Old Trafford last season indicated.
 
In an era when players kiss the badge one week and ask for a transfer the next, however, it is hard to discourage one who is attempting to turn a contracted job into a vocation.
 
"When I arrived I knew that Liverpool were a massive club, but that is all I knew," Torres added. "I could not tell you the history or what we stood for; but then my first three days were spent in an apartment. I couldn't go out because I was waiting for my medical and it was all a big secret, so the club sent me a lot of DVDs and books about Liverpool's history.
 
"I was there with my girlfriend and we were watching and trying to read, because it was all in English, and that is how I found out it was so much bigger than I knew. I read about Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush, and I felt so proud to be sharing in this club.
 
"When I was with Atletico I was made captain at the age of 19, which was too soon really. It mattered a lot to me and I was disappointed when people came in who knew nothing about us, nothing of our history; they did not understand what made our club different.
 
"Looking back, we should have done what Liverpool did, because if you know your club, if you know what it stands for and if you are proud of it, you will play better because it will mean something to you.
 
"You have to know what club you are playing for or you just play for yourself. Every time I put on a Liverpool shirt, I know it is more than just a football game."
 
The nuances are gleaned over time. Torres said that when he arrived his target was to win the Champions League, but the locals quickly put him straight.
 
"They would say, "No, no, the Premier League, we must win the Premier League"," he recalled. "So now I feel that way, too. I know about this club. I know how important it is to win the Premier League after 19 years. I know that if Manchester United win the League this season it will be 18 titles for us and 18 for them, so we cannot let that happen.
 
"I know that even though Chelsea and Arsenal are top teams, our biggest match of any season is with Manchester United. I know how important it is to win against Everton, too.
 
"I imagine to win the League here would be like winning the European Championship with Spain after 44 years. We became heroes of the country, just 23 people.
 
"There were 15 kilometres from the airport to the heart of Madrid and it was like a red sea, millions of people in the city centre all with Spanish flags, people stopping dead on the opposite side of the motorway to cheer us as we went by, getting out of their cars, standing on their cars.
 
"It was strange. After the first game when we beat Russia 4-1, I did think it could be like every other tournament for us, when we start by playing well, but then nothing happens.
 
"Then when we won our other group games we began to believe in ourselves and the turning point was against Italy in the quarter-finals. Throughout history, Italy beat Spain. We have the game, we have the players, but we always lose.
 
"And then, when we beat Italy, and on penalties, I think we celebrated more than we did when we won the Final, because we knew. That was the key.
 
"It is the same with Liverpool. Winning at Chelsea, winning against Manchester United, these are the results that give us belief — then, if we get a result at Old Trafford in March, it will be our Italy game."
 
And it will, for Fernando Torres, most certainly kick something that means something. 

I would not like to play for another English or Spanish club

sure 

[Adam Donnelly]

lol at Torres spittin his dummy out
Get use to it ya twat

[Elano]

Manchester City land £14m Craig Bellamy as Milan fans hold Kaka protest

AS MILAN fans mobilised last night against the sale of Kaka to Manchester City for a world record transfer fee of about £100m, it emerged that the English club were set to sign Craig Bellamy from West Ham for a fee of £14m.

The Welsh international striker walked out on his club on Friday when they refused him permission to talk to Tottenham, who were also prepared to pay the asking price. He said he would never play for West Ham again. Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham manager, said that he undestood Bellamy wanted to play for him and that Daniel Levy, the chairman at White Hart Lane, was negotiating his transfer. Last night, however, West Ham insisted that they would not do business with their principal London rivals and agreed terms with City.

Mark Hughes, City’s manager, yesterday acknowledged that signing Kaka from Milan will be more complicated. While he said that he was optimistic about landing the Brazilian, Hughes added: “We’re a million miles away from actually concluding the deal.” And there were reports that Real Madrid were also in touch with the player about a summer move.

Huge pressure was applied to Kaka last night not to leave the club where he has made his name and with whom he won the Champions League 20 months ago. Milan fans had been campaigning against his departure for more than 24 hours before last night’s kick-off against Fiorentina and prepared a raucous reception at San Siro. Smoke bombs were released and abusive chants directed at the club’s executives. Police confiscated a banner calling unofficial club president Silvio Berlusconi a “traitor”.

Berlusconi had earlier said on behalf of Milan: “It is hard to stand in the way of a lad who has his career ahead of him and might regret a decision for the rest of his life when he is being offered earnings far higher than he has now. A club like ours cannot simply double a player’s wages while we have to respect the rest of the squad.” Milan general manager Ariedo Braida was reported to have confirmed to guests in the stadium that the clubs had reached a deal.

City are expected to offer Kaka a contract worth as much as £14m a year. The player’s father, Bosco Leite, who also acts as his agent, is expected to arrive in Lombardy tomorrow to meet City representatives. Kaka is understood to want, above his basic package, a further £2.5m as compensation for the lack of imminent Champions League football, City being too low in the Premier League to qualify next season. He is also thought to have asked for a £58.6m release clause that can be triggered next January if City have not met a list of unspecified “requests”.

Milan, third in the Serie A table, had come under criticism from supporters for their strategy of supplementing an ageing squad with players such as Ronaldinho, no longer wanted at Barcelona, and David Beckham, who joined the club on a two-month loan this month. Kaka, who turns 27 in April, also expressed his discomfort at having to adjust his role in the team to accommodate Ronaldinho.

[K.Dub]

Ahh, so you were being serious.. I thought you were smarter, my mis-judgment.

Just sick of people having a pop at my club, Just because it's not United or Chelsea with all the money.
Fuck me there even blaming us for the fuckin credit crunch now.
like i say, people should worry about owners who cant afford there club.

People weren't "popping" at Chelsea when Abramovic entered?

[KURUPTION-81]

Kuruption u sad RAG Had a bit more respect for u, but not bin on here 4 a while.

Stop getting jealous just because u lot cant afford Hermon Munster AKA Teves.
WILL BUY YA CLUB AND BURN IT DOWN, WILL BUY YA CLUB AND BURN IT DOWN



M.C.F.C FOOTBALL KILLERS muhahahaha

All this hate by the media is making me laugh, do u think if United had the money they would not want to buy him?
United have bin buying the league for years, but no mention of that.
Now it's our fuckin turn

Jealous of city lol . Whats there to be jealous of ? We are top of the league, current premiership/european/ world champions. Where as city are in the lower half of the league.

[KURUPTION-81]

Disgraceful. I dont care who it is, Barce, Real, Man City, this type of money should not be allowed to be spent on a player.

Sure Man City fans love it now but what happens if this guy ups and leaves, him and his money. You wont be cheering when you're bankrupt. Fifa desperatly needs to sort out transfer fee's and introduce a wage cap, i've been saying it for years.

Trust me mate the guy is here for a long time,
Manchester City are running the club within it's means.
Unlike other clubs that are full of debt (cough cough United)

I think FIFA should look into owners who cant afford, what they have bought.

We may be in debt but we were recently valued at 1.2 billion so if we had to pay up the debt it wouldnt be a problem. Where as city dont even own there ground.

In all honesty i dont care how much money city have because the limited success they have will only be short lived. Just as Chelsea found out, no idea city will buy a whole new squad (coz there current team is shit) but that doesnt mean there going to win anything.

[Jome]

Just sick of people having a pop at my club, Just because it's not United or Chelsea with all the money.
Fuck me there even blaming us for the fuckin credit crunch now.
like i say, people should worry about owners who cant afford there club.

People weren't "popping" at Chelsea when Abramovic entered?

My point exactly.. people still call Chelsea Chel$ki, and they don't get any respect or bravos from rival fans when they win something.
The common attitude is "They better fuckin win something with all that cash spent"..

Best believe if United, Pool & Arse suddenly had Billions to spend, the "pops" would be exactly the same, if not bigger.

[Elano]

who cares about respect or bravos from rival fans ?