- guardian.co.uk, Thursday 15 January 2009 22.00 GMT
Kaka would partner Stephen Ireland in Manchester City's midfield. Photograph: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images
Mark Hughes is so confident of Manchester City signing Kaka that he has already drawn up a new 4-1-4-1 system to accommodate the former world footballer of the year in his proposed debut against Newcastle United on 28 January.
Hughes and his management staff have devised an adventurous system that would see Kaka partner Stephen Ireland in the centre of midfield with Robinho on the left, Shaun Wright-Phillips on the right and, if everything goes according to plan, Roque Santa Cruz in attack. Hughes's assistant, Mark Bowen, has described the world-record signing of Kaka as "very close". and the same applies to Santa Cruz's drawn-out £18m move from Blackburn Rovers. If everybody is fit and City, as expected, can also persuade West Ham United to part company with Craig Bellamy, the Wales international is likely to find himself on the bench initially.
Last night Milan's vice-president Adriano Galliani confirmed the club were "evaluating" an offer for Kaka, and gave the midfielder permission to speak to City. The fee widely reporting in Italy as being in the region of €120m (£108m). However unconfirmed reports said City's total payment will near €150m (£135m), breaking down as:
• €120m as a fee for Kaka
• €20m in agents' fees
• €10m for Kaka's father
Kaka's wages are expected to be £13.5m per annum after tax; in other words, around £500,000 gross per week, making him the highest-paid footballer in the world. Although Kaka has publicly claimed that he wants to "grow old" with Milan, he has indicated he would be happy to meet representatives from the Abu Dhabi United Group. City's owners feel the deal now hinges entirely on whether the player can be persuaded to leave one of Europe's most successful institutions for a club in the early stages of a thorough transformation.
City are hopeful that the player's father, Bosco Leite, will meet the club's executive chairman, Garry Cook, and be convinced about the club's potential and Hughes dismissed reports emanating from Abu Dhabi yesterday that the deal was off. The manager also rejected suggestions that the deal had been arranged above his head.
"We are a football business, so it has to be a football decision first and foremost," he said. "In the outset any thoughts about bringing in a player of the quality of Kaka have to start at a football level and that's my level. I make my recommendations and then we try to pursue the process and see if we can get to a point where we feel we can present something to a player's club. If people think this is being done above my head, then they are being totally naive."
Hughes added: "The fact that we are interested in a player of the quality of Kaka shows the intent of the owners. We are not just taking a scatter-gun approach to world stars of football. This is a measured and calculated football decision that works for us and that's the reason we have expressed an interest in a player of the quality of Kaka. We feel he's the type and the right quality that we need to drag the club forward."
The manager allowed himself to think about the prospect of another genuine superstar joining his squad and the impact it would have on the other players.
"There will be more of a buzz if the players actually turn up in the car park and he walks through the doorway. However, we are nowhere near that at the moment, so we have to be a little bit pragmatic and understand that it's always a long process. The situation is still fluid and there's a lot to be played out yet."
Vision of the future? This is the team that the Manchester City manager, Mark Hughes, plans to play against Newcastle United on 28 January, with Kaka playing in midfield behind Roque Santa Cruz Photograph: Guardian
