The "forgotten" star

The Futbolitis blog is a superb resource for those interested in a deeper analysis both of tactics and the politics of football, without many of the rumours and sensationalism associated with more traditional media. As the articles are written in Spanish, I thought I would share some of the highlights of the item that was published earlier today regarding one of Ramón Calderón's broken electoral promises when he became Real Madrid president: Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, better known as Kaká.

The authors argue that Kaká could be the signing that both Barcelona and Real Madrid should be looking at this summer. In Barcelona's case, they need a replacement for the recently departed Ronaldinho and they had their chance earlier in the transfer window. Milan don't have the money they once had to invest in renewing their ageing side; they did not qualify for the Champions League. Galliani, president of Milan, was interested in a swap with come of the Barcelona players, but the board was in the middle of getting rid of Rijkaard and replacing him with Guardiola and missed the boat.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, have been putting aside money for the on-off transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo. Kaká is arguably a much better technical fit, as he is and has always been a team player rather than a highly talented individual, but with the vision and skill to replace Guti as the main playmaker. Guti, in contrast, has never had the temperament to provide that vision week in, week out and is also five-and-a-half years older.

For a while last season, Real flirted with moving Gago up to Guti's position, which proved unsuccessful. The Argentine has been good at playing the ball forward to Guti and Sneijder, but he really is no Redondo, though perhaps, at his age, he should be given the benefit of the doubt, and more time to develop.

The figures for the transfer of Kaká are comparable to those being rumoured for Cristiano Ronaldo, possibly even larger. Chelsea are reportedly interested, but then, Chelsea seem to be interested in everybody. The main difference financially between Ronaldo and Kaká is that the Portuguese has been spending his holiday time signing sponsorship deal after sponsorship deal (did you really think he was going to LA for the club scene?). This means that from an image rights perspective, his transfer is much less amortisable that, say, David Beckham's was.

Making the money that Real Madrid made with David Beckham is not possible in these more media-savvy days, but Kaká's image is much more up for grabs. On the personal front, the Brazilian is a committed Christian and family man, a much less likely target for all those scandal-hungry paparazzi.

Will Calderón change course mid-stream and go for Kaká? It's a long shot, but it may be worth considering.

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The end of the galáctico era

So it's finally goodbye to Ronaldo, the latest player to be treated in ignominious fashion as part of the Real Madrid New Year sales clear-out. It also marks the end of the galácticos, as he, together with Figo, Zidane and Beckham became known during the Florentino era. While it's hard to argue with the premise that Ronaldo is not the footballer he was, the timing of this deal does not reflect well on the management at the club. AC Milan reportedly offered 18 million euros to take him away in the summer, and are now getting him for a reported figure of between 7 and 8 million. Some rumours even go as far as to say that the money has been put up by the player himself, so desperate is he to get away from the "hell" that is working under Capello.

The current goal drought in the league also has numerous people remembering with nostalgia how many times "El Gordo" (together with Casillas) has saved the team's bacon (only to eat it afterwards - sorry, couldn't resist).

Capello himself has remained tight-lipped in recent days about the breakdown in his relationship with the player, although he has not called him up to the squad for several weeks. He did previously say that Ronaldo's attitude to training was "not great", a diplomatic way of saying he's lazy, and he's too old to rely on his extraordinary talent to get him out of trouble. One wonders how he'll fare in the more stringent defences of Serie A. Capello has hinted he'll have more to say "once he no longer wears the Real Madrid shirt". It is also rumoured that Ronaldo does not have a great deal of support from the rest of the squad, and that he's a bad influence on the young Brazilians Robinho and Marcelo (Roberto Carlos doesn't need any bad influences, by all accounts). He's not expected to say goodbye to his former team-mates.

It's probably time for him to go, and it's definitely time for the galácticos to either hang up their boots or take a back seat, but it would have been better if this had happened back in the summer (from a financial perspective) or at the end of the season (out of respect for his contribution to the club). It'll be long before we see his like again.

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