City - Milan bottled it

Kaka: Staying in Italy

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Manchester City executive chairman Garry Cook has accused AC 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 playmaker snubbed the chance to move to the Premier League.

There is now a debate raging as to whether City or Milan pulled the plug on the deal, but Cook is in no doubt and believes the Italian club bowed to public pressure.

Fans demonstrated their anger at Kaka's potential exit during Saturday's Serie A clash with Fiorentina and Cook believes that played a major factor in changing the minds of the Milan hierarchy, who - he claims - had previously been willing to sell.

"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.

Pressure

"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 former Fifa World Player of the Year.

"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 more important to Kaka's representatives than the possibility of becoming a part of Manchester City's plans to be a major force in world football.

Agenda

"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 maintains that the failure to secure Kaka will not impact upon City's long-term goal.

The Eastlands outfit completed the signing of Craig Bellamy on Monday and are close to finalising a deal for Hamburg's Nigel de Jong, and Cook has hinted there are other targets in the pipeline.

"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," concluded Cook.