Manchester City executive chairman Garry Cook has accused Milan of ‘bottling it’ in the proposed world-record deal to sign Kaka.
A City delegation, including Cook, returned empty handed from Milan on Monday night after the Brazilian turned down the chance of a move to the Premier League.
“The player was clearly for sale,” said Cook.
“We had entered into a confidentiality agreement weeks ago but, in my personal opinion, they (Milan) bottled it.
“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.
“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.”
Cook also confirmed that City representatives did not meet Kaka at any point in the negotiations and that no offer was made directly to the player.
“We never even met the player. We met his representative, his father, but we had discussed commercial terms only,” added Cook.
“There was no offer made to the player.”
Cook also believes that money was behind Kaka’s representatives handling of the deal.
“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,” he added.
“We’ll continue on our journey but he won’t be a part of it. Deals with the greatest players are more than complex.
“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.”
Meanwhile, Cook insists that the failure to sign Kaka will not undermine City’s long-term goals.
“We have got clear plans. It doesn’t mean it is the end for Manchester City. This club deserves great players and the fans deserve great players,” added Cook.
