Posts Tagged ‘Milan Team’

Real land their €65m man as Kaka swaps Milan for Madrid

• Midfielder leaves Milan for €65m on six-year deal
• Club say the man will be harder to replace than the player

Real Madrid have signed the Brazilian midfielder Kaka from Milan, the La Liga club confirmed today. The 27-year-old international has agreed a six-year contract to become the first player to join Real since Florentino Pérez returned to the presidency this month.

Reports said the transfer fee was around €65m (£56m). Pérez has vowed to recreate the policy of signing the world’s best in his second spell in charge – he brought Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and David Beckham to the Bernabéu in his first term – and snaring the Brazil playmaker is another statement of intent.

The official unveiling in Madrid is likely to take place at the end of the month, after the Confederations Cup in South Africa.

Kaka, who is in Brazil on international duty, called Pérez’s strategy “an interesting sports project.” He said: “He’s trying to buy other players, and I think he can make a very offensive team. That’s behind my decision to go to this team.”

Kaka said he talked with his former Milan team-mate David Beckham about the transfer, and the England midfielder, who played for Real, said it would be the best step for his career. “I hope to be part of this new project and help to win titles, both European and Spanish,” Kaka said.

“Now the soap opera is over,” he added after a practice session in the build-up to Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against Paraguay qualifier in Recife. “The only leftover details were the medical exams, and I’ve done them. The negotiations are closed and I have sealed my transfer to Real Madrid.

“Everything I’ve always done for Milan has been by mutual agreement, from the moment I arrived until my departure today. I’m leaving by the front door. “I’ve won everything that I wanted as a player and this is a new motivation for me.”

Milan thanked Kaka for his contribution. “AC Milan thanks the man Kaka and the champion Kaka for his decisive contributions to so many victories obtained in the last six years,” the Serie A club said.

“His loss on the field, though serious, can be filled. It will, however, be very difficult to fill the void left by Kaka the man.”

Pérez confirmed that Kaka would be just the first of several summer signings. His targets also include Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso. “Kaka is one of the players that every team would like to have and Madrid had the chance to get him,” Pérez said. “We are working on building a good team, an important team, and this has only just begun.”

Chelsea finally get their man: Ancelotti signs three-year deal

• ‘For me the Champions League is a beautiful sensation’
• Italian coach left Milan by mutual consent yesterday

Chelsea have confirmed the appointment of Carlo Ancelotti as their new manager with the Italian set to officially take charge on 1 July. He succeeds Guus Hiddink, whose short stint at Stamford Bridge ended after Saturday’s FA Cup final victory over Everton. Ancelotti, who has long been linked with the Stamford Bridge post, left Milan by mutual consent yesterday.

And the Italian said today that Chelsea “have to win” the Champions League with him in charge after coming so close in recent seasons. “Chelsea have a great record, five semi-finals in six years is a beautiful score but now we have to win [it],” he told the Chelsea website. “[You need] great motivation and the right objective, and at Chelsea it is easy to find the right objective: to win the Champions League, the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Carling Cup. All of that, naturally, is not easy but the right way [to do it] is to create a group of people that work well together.”

The 49-year-old also spoke fondly of his time at Milan, as a player and a coach. “Milan was a great experience – for five years I played with a great team, with a lot of success, and then spent eight years training a great team,” he said. “Now it is time for a change and Chelsea. For me it is a great experience with a great team.”

Ancelotti, conducting his first interview in English, was asked how he felt about working in a new language. “For me it is not easy. I want to learn, I want to improve and when we start the new season I want to speak well because it is important for me to speak with the players, the team, the assistant and the people who will work with me. I would like to thank the Milan team, the company, the fans, the players. [But] now I think it is the right moment to challenge and I want to put all my energies into Chelsea.

He added: “Chelsea and Milan are great teams in Europe and they want to win all the competitions so I think there will be the same pressure [at Chelsea]. For me the Champions League is a beautiful sensation. When I was a player I won [the tournament] two times, in 1989 and 1990.

“It was a fantastic moment and the same when I was a coach with Milan in 2003 and 2007. The Champions League for me is the best competition in the world and everyone wants to win it.”

Ancelotti, who will be 50 this month, has previously coached at Reggiana, Parma and Juventus. The Italian, who becomes the fourth Chelsea manager in 21 months following Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Hiddink, said that he is up-to-date with English football. “I see the matches always on television. I like the Premier League because there are great teams who play good football. It is very speedy.

“I like English football. In Italy, now and before, the matches are more tactical, the team thinks to defend well and [only] after to attack. I watch Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United and I know English football very well. Chelsea have a great team, great players and a strong team. I’d like to stay here.”

Ancelotti admitted he spoke to the former Chelsea player Andriy Shevchenko and that he played against the current Chelsea assistant coach, Ray Wilkins, when he was at Roma and the Englishman at Milan. Regarding his coaching philosophy, he said: “I like to be close to the players. I like to be close to the company. I like to speak with the people. I believe in team work: this is the most important thing, to create a group that work together to build a dream. The players and the company need to have strong organisation, strong discipline and the right motivation. I hope to do this together because this is the right way to arrive at success.”

Asked about how he had dealt with being Milan coach for such a long time, he said: “I changed it [the team] every year. You have to know the characteristics of the players, then you can put in a system for them.” And what was he hoping to bring to Chelsea? “Experience. I want to bring my individual quality. To win is important and to work together is the most important.”

A statement on the Chelsea website said: “Carlo was the outstanding candidate for the job. He has proved over a long period his ability to build teams that challenged for, and have been successful in, major domestic and European competitions. He also had a highly successful playing career in those competitions and therefore brings unparalleled all round experience to the job.”