'It Would Be an Easier Decision Today': Kaka Reveals Reason for Turning Down Man City Move in 2009

Former AC Milan and Real Madrid star Kaka was offered the opportunity to play in the Premier League back when Manchester City had just become big spenders. But

Former AC Milan and Real Madrid star Kaka was offered the opportunity to play in the Premier League back when Manchester City had just become big spenders.

But the Brazilian midfielder, who is the last player to have won the Ballon d'Or before Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's domination, turned the Etihad side down, later joining Real Madrid.

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While City's offer was a tempting one, Kaka reveals that he wasn't convinced the team were heading in the right direction and there was too much uncertainty at the time.

Writing his own feature at FourFourTwo, the 35-year-old explained the reasoning behind his choices.

He wrote: "I'd finally come to the conclusion that it wasn't quite the right time for me to go to City, and the main reason was the uncertainty over the squad-building process that they were about to undertake. 

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"It wasn’t clear to me how the squad would be reshaped and I wasn’t too convinced it would work.

"Nowadays, Manchester City is a much more solid club, so it would be an easier decision if I had to make it today. 

"Anyone who receives an offer from them now won’t suffer from the same headaches that I experienced nearly a decade ago. To put it simply, if my negotiations with them had taken place this year, my decision would have been very different, that’s for sure.

"Unfortunately, things were different back then. I was being asked to swap one of the most historical and successful clubs in Europe for a team who were only at the beginning of a completely new project, where I was supposed to be the first big player.

"Looking back, it was safer to stay at Milan, one of the leading clubs in Europe and a club regularly competing to win the Champions League – a place where I had become one of the key figures and was very much respected."

Kaka also insists that money was never a motivating factor for him, as Madrid were the only team that ever appealed to him during his time at Milan.

"When I finally left Milan a few months later, I went to Real Madrid to make my dream come true," he added. "That was one thing that had always been quite clear in my head: if I had to go to another club after Milan, it would be Real Madrid. 

"But life has its own ways and at that moment the offer came from Manchester City. I guess my decision to deny City’s offer is proof that the money was never a priority in my decisions."