So goes the classic Beatles song, penned in 1964 by a fresh-faced Paul McCartney. And in the case of Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite or Kaka as he is more commonly known, they were right.

Amidst the plentiful streams of commentary on the Kaka to Manchester City plotline I have purposefully remained tight-lipped, keen to see the whole situation pan out. Now, with the dust settled, I feel more able to offer a perspective on the failed deal.

When the news broke that AC Milan had accepted a world-record smashing bid from Manchester City for the 2007 World Player of the Year, I was concerned about it for one overriding reason.

The cash, the cheek, the morals

Not because of the incredulous sums of money involved, though of course such a deal would surely have reshaped the financial parameters of world football and perhaps to some extent have already when you consider the £14 million price tag Manchester City subsequently paid for Craig Bellamy, of all people.

Neither was I particularly as concerned with the relative disparity in size, history and stature of the two clubs involved. Many felt City should not have even dared possess ideas above their station. How dare they consider elevating themselves into the esteemed company of more traditional footballing powers came the cry. In actuality, given the framework that guides modern football, City are more than entitled to bid for whoever they want with their monstrous treasure chest of gold. Even if the absurdity of the move itself would have been tantamount to Sporting Gijon buying Steven Gerrard.

In this situation I also failed to see the so-called moral angle from which a lot of writers on the subject chose to anchor their perspective. The usual damnations were trotted out. The situation was ‘obscene’ according to some, ‘grotesque’ to others; further proof that football had ’sold its soul’ as many described it. ‘How can anybody be allowed to earn up to half a million pounds a week for kicking a ball around? How am I supposed to relate to that?’, questioned some, horrified at the notion that football players be afforded the privilege of doing anything other than taking the bus to work.

I have always found these indignant outcries about modern footballers rather misguided.

Football, like any other business (and it is now a business) is driven by market forces. In what is a billion dollar industry, clubs happily pay the high wages required for talented players because the fees represent a necessary investment. You cannot find top footballers skilled enough to be able to play professionally but anywhere, and so the market establishes a higher going rate for them than for people in other professions.

Secondly, and this point is made excellently by Martin Samuel in his new column, why don’t footballers deserve the sums of money they are paid? People jump on the backs of football players but are then deafeningly quiet about the riches amassed in other sport or entertainment industries by the likes of Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington or Roger Federer. There is no collective grumbling about the exceptional wage packet of a man like Tom Cruise, who was paid $67 million for War of the Worlds (the film equivalent of a 0-0 draw on a rain-trodden pitch in Carlisle). Valkyrie, his latest film, cost a reported $90 million to produce and a further $45 million plus to market. But where are the film enthusiasts bemoaning that the film industry has ’sold its soul’?

‘Shock jock’ Howard Stern made £163 million pounds in 2006 alone, and sitting in front of a microphone making crude jokes requires far less talent than the skills necessary to be a professional footballer, especially at Kaka’s level of ability. So I reject wholeheartedly the idea that the Kaka to City deal reflected further evidence of football’s moral repugnance.

No, none of the above reasons had me too concerned in this saga. It was something else.

For me, Kaka leaving the San Siro for Manchester’s second biggest club would have been bad or indeed sad for football simply because of the ruinous, negative alchemy it would have represented. The undoing of a magical and successful union. The end of a golden relationship. The equivalent of an Arab billionaire handing Romeo unlimited riches to tear himself away from Juliet and never associate with her again.

The icon

For Kaka, at Milan, is more than just a footballer. He is a club icon. He embodies Milan, their history, their allure. Kaka, the name, the man, the technical excellence wrapped up in the red and black stripes of the famous number 22 shirt. He evokes the very essence of the club itself. A ‘treasure’ as the club’s fans put it.

In the years since he joined AC Milan in 2003 his graciousness, hard work and mastery of a football, married with many other admirable virtues, have all propelled him into the pantheon of San Siro greats. For AC Milan to dispense with such a symbolic figure in his prime would, in my opinion, have been a shame for football.

Similarly speaking, Manchester United selling Ryan Giggs, Juventus selling Alessandro Del Piero or Barcelona exchanging Carlos Puyol for a wheelbarrow full of cash would also be sad for football. These types of player are symbols, uniquely ingrained in the histories and traditions of their respective clubs.
There are not many of them around, these living embodiments of towering football institutions. Hence it is all the more special when one emerges. For that reason alone, seeing Kaka torn away from Milan would in my opinion hav
e been a lamentable, unsatisfactory move.

Throughout the whole botched transfer saga, Kaka never once claimed he wanted to leave Milan. ‘I want to grow old here’ he famously stated, adding that his next goal was to become captain. To him the deal was always a no-go, from the very minute news of the colossal offer became public to the day talks broke down.

The same cannot be said for the directors at AC Milan. With his comments that the money on offer would be too good for anyone to turn down, club owner Silvio Berlusconi appeared to try and edge Kaka towards the exit door, his affinity with the player blinded by the vast sums of cash flying about. ‘He might regret a decision for the rest of his life,’ claimed the Italian Prime Minister. Er, really Silvio?

One thing is clear, the directors at Milan were happy to sell Kaka for the £108 million reportedly offered. They accepted the bid and allowed the player’s father to speak to Manchester City. They wanted to do a deal. Their loyalty to the player was quickly put aside in favour of potential dollar signs.

There was a moment when I thought Kaka might make the extraordinary a reality.

What do you do when the people who say they love you finally establish the value of that love?

Kaka, judging by his background, his personality, his beliefs, is not a man motivated by money. Especially not when he is already one of the world’s best paid players. As he said, only rejection could have driven him out of the Milanello doors. Faced with a board of directors that felt the money was too good not to sell him, I thought only Kaka’s own personal feeling of sadness from the brush-off might have dragged him away from his beloved Milan.

In the end however, when faced with huge pressure from all quarters, Kaka effectively proved his iconic status by agreeing to stay at AC Milan. In doing so he illustrated the human qualities which made him such a popular figure to the club’s fans in the first place.

Milan fans played a major part in the outcome, and their fervent passion was just as responsible in shaping Kaka’s decision to stay as was the gross incompetence of the Manchester City executives in losing the Brazilian.

Few fanbases around the world would have shown the same levels of staunch opposition and animosity towards the directors and club officials as did thousands of the Rossoneri faithful who protested wildly to keep their man. Kaka went on record thanking the fans for their support. Smoke bombs, roadblocks and throwing firecrackers at vice-president Adriano Galliani’s car all proved pretty effective in the end.

In this case then, ultimately, money couldn’t buy love. We should all congratulate Kaka for his loyalty.