Football Betting: Kaka bid is cause for celebration

Premier League / Feizal Rahman / 18 January 2009 / Leave a Comment

Is bidding £100m for one of the world's finest players really any more obscene than paying £15m for Craig Bellamy? Feizal Rahman discusses a week of madness...

Has the world of football fallen for an almighty publicity stunt?

With no evidence of a concrete offer being tabled, reports of a world record transfer bid from Manchester City for AC Milan's Kaka merely serves to make a grandiose statement of intent for the club and its owners. Milan are in a no-lose situation. If they accept the rumoured offer and the player goes, then they are vastly richer and able to bring in at least two other world class players to fill the void. But should Kaka decide to stay then what greater PR than to proclaim that the player's love for the club is greater than that of unimaginable wealth?

No strangers to outlandish projects in the oil-rich Middle East - a trip to Dubai will leave even the most sceptical of souls agog -, why would City's owners play by the rules when they have the means to make their own? As in any area where there is a vast concentration of wealth, a grotesque dichotomy exists in the United Arab Emirates where the sheikhs create unworldly chimeras to flaunt globally while the majority of people live in poverty. So it can be of no real surprise that while the real-world economy grinds to a halt, fans of the one-time working man's game are now able to indulge in their own little piece of fantasy.

Where we once looked to Hollywood to momentarily relieve us from the monotony of our lives, now we seek football's mega-stars to do the same. So how wrong is it that one of the finest exponents of the game could possibly be paid £24m a year to entertain the masses, just as Tom Cruise and Angelina Jolie can command similar amounts to simply learn a few lines a look good in front of camera?

Is it any more obscene than the financiers who got the world economy into its current mess being able to wash their hands of liability while enjoying their multi-million dollar bonuses and payoffs? Or is outlaying £100m for one of the very best any less acceptable than stumping up £15m for an infamous journeyman like Craig Bellamy?

Several clubs have previously sought to purchase their way to success with varying results, at least in the long term. With the arrival of Roman Abramovich, Chelsea were widely predicted to dominate for decades yet they are currently bordering on turmoil. Two back-to-back titles were fulfilling rewards for the Russian billionaire's investment in the squad yet the most important acquisition he made was not that of a player but of a manager - whose departure has since left Chelsea floundering.

Real Madrid's period of acquiring a 'galactico' every season didn't always prove fruitful while Lazio's investment in the late 1990's brought one Serie A title to the Stadio Olimpico but little else after. Leeds United spent money like it was going out of fashion, briefly flirt with domestic and European success before an ignominious crash and burn saw them relegated into obscurity.

Economics graduate Arsene Wenger this week predicted an uncontrollable inflationary effect on the transfer market in a deflationary economy that leaves us with two separate transfer systems - one for the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea and one for everyone else. But the elite will always be able to bring in the world's best, as Manchester United and Liverpool have continued to do. But what relevance would the transfer of Kaka have to a club such as Fulham or Wigan? There are already several levels within the current transfer system according to means, so Manchester City simply add another one at the very top.

Currently in the bottom half of the Premier League, there is much work to do for Manchester City to challenge the 'Big Four', let alone compete with Europe's elite ([24.0] to be relegated). We are led to believe that Kaka is currently weighing up the approach from Eastlands - [1.75] to start for City on February 7th - and any such decision will surely be weighing heavily on the shoulders of the deeply religious Brazilian.

At 26 years of age, Kaka is about to enter the prime of his career. Will the challenge of trying to lead a mediocre Manchester City to greatness, albeit for immense personal reward, really over-ride his desire to 'grow old' with one of Europe's most successful clubs? Whatever the outcome, that this scenario is even possible should be reason enough to celebrate.