Cook: 'AC Milan bottled it'

By Simon Stone, PA

Tuesday, 20 January 2009

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Kaka has decided to stay at AC Milan

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Manchester City chief executive Garry Cook has accused AC Milan of 'bottling it' over Kaka's proposed transfer.

Cook returned from Italy in sombre mood last night after the Brazilian decided not to accept City's amazing £108m offer.

He always knew negotiations would be tricky. But he feels Milan's celebrations belied the knowledge they were willing to sell their favourite son.

"The player was clearly for sale," Cook told BBC Radio Five Live.

"We had entered into a confidentiality agreement weeks ago but, in my personal opinion, they [Milan] bottled it."

As Cook confirmed, negotiations had been ongoing for weeks, with Milan in full knowledge of the significance of their move.

"We had gone through a three or four-stage process in which Milan made it quite clear Kaka was for sale and we made it clear we intended to bring him to Manchester City," he said.

"As we got to the next stage there were questions they could not answer and I think the political and public pressure made them change their conditions.

"We never even met the player. We met his representative, his father, but we had discussed commercial terms only."

The chastening experience confirms just how difficult City will find it to compete with the world's biggest clubs from their current position in the bottom half of the Premier League.

Owner Sheikh Mansour is keen for City to move quickly, which is why a world superstar like Kaka was identified.

But Cook felt that rather than looking at the wider picture, the deal just turned into one about money.

"The agenda we thought we were on was about Kaka coming on a journey with this club but at the end the only journey they were on was a fiscal one," added Cook.

"We'll continue on our journey but he won't be a part of it. Deals with the greatest players are more than complex.

"It would have been great to have him with us but what got in the way was the behaviour of AC Milan and I think they bottled it.

"We got to talk to Kaka's father. His father said he was very interested in the project and we talked about humanitarian potential factors but when we got into discussions those issues took a back seat and financial demands came to the fore."

Comments

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j_rennison wrote:

Tuesday, 20 January 2009 at 12:19 pm (UTC)

AC Milan bottled it? I think you'll find that Kaka said he wanted to remain at the club he loves and that the money wasn't going to influence his decision. But no no, the deal collapsed because Milan bottled it. Another example of the deluded world of Man City. Kaka epitomizes class, very few people would've turned down that money out of loyalty. Well, loyalty and the fact that it would be the ultimate backward step in his career...

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GETTING BACK TO PLANET EARTH

drug_baron wrote:

Tuesday, 20 January 2009 at 05:03 pm (UTC)

In the current economic situation; there are very few clubs or individuals who are either willing or capable of paying 30 million for a player let alone 100 million.

Lets face it; there are going to be some major clubs that are going to hit the dust in the next 9 months; possibly Liverpool and West ham will fail to find new owners and go into receivership. It should not be dismissed as scare mongering that Man U could even go under.

With Robinio going for a walkabout; it is possible he may get a hefty fine from Man City and even be put up for sale; and the chances of Man City getting beck their 32 million is very remote. Which in a way is going to be a good thing because both players and clubs can return to Planet Earth and start paying sensible money for transfers instead of monopoly money that only Sheikhs; Drug Barons or Corrupt Politicians can afford.

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Kaka

jonlord1962 wrote:

Tuesday, 20 January 2009 at 05:27 pm (UTC)

Thia is quite hilarious, particularly Cook's risible assertions about 'humanitarian potential factors', whatever that spectacularly clumsy phrase is meant to mean. My guess is that Cook had a notion that City's great new acquisition would gallivant around the world speaking to all and sundry about world poverty. Contrast Cook's vapid rhetoric with the colloquial 'bottled it' accusation and you have a linguistic reflection of the man's utter incoherence.

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kaka

maradona_786 wrote:

Tuesday, 20 January 2009 at 05:39 pm (UTC)

j.renison i think your wrong say what you have about man city being deluded if your gonna criticise the owners and board be constructive i agree it was kaka who made the final decision regarding his decision to stay at milan he is a tremendous player and fatastic kid with real moral fibre there is no shame in city getting knocked back by a player of his ability any team would buy him if they had the means the premiership grounds would have been packed out wanting to get a glimpse of his talent not many world class players ever come the premier league in there prime they choose italy and spain purely from a football context milan is a giant of a club any player would love to play there look at the trophies they have won but make nomistake if kaka signed for city he would have done what maradona did at napoli that is the calibre of the player and to be fair to city and its owners the milan board and berlusconi gave the go ahead to city they couldnt force the player to leave as the fans worship him but the reality is kakas dad met with man city there was discussions and the vision for the future for kaka and city i applaud city for showing the ambition and desire to sign him lets not forget discussions took place and milan allowed that to happen i have nothing but respect for kaka and his decision not to go i wish the boy all the best he is a credit his family and above all humanity for the person he is and what he stands for guided by his religious belief but i do not fault city one bit for trying

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Re: kaka

j_rennison wrote:

Tuesday, 20 January 2009 at 10:51 pm (UTC)

maradona, i agree that kaka in the premiership would be very good to see, although preferably not at many city. but i think its clear that cook and city believe that it was ac milan's fault that the deal fell through and had they acted properly, kaka would now be a city player. however we know, having heard the reasons from the man himself, that that is incorrect and not the reason he isn't making the move. so in my dictionary, believing something that clearly isn't true is delusion. no? and i know i've said it before, but a few full stops here and there wouldn't go amiss...

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