Comment: At Least Ronaldo Was Honest Unlike...

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Kaka - Ronaldo (Manchester United - Milan)

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It’s no secret that the Brazilian star had time and again stated that he would love to stay at Milan. While Real Madrid and Chelsea were heavily linked with the former FIFA World Player of the Year, the Milan ace always maintained that he wouldn’t leave San Siro.

Even a week before, his signing was made official, Kaka mentioned that he would return to Milan and that he was pleased that his club was in the Champions League again.

“I will say it for one last time: I do not want to leave Milan. I just want to say to the millions of Rossoneri fans that I have made my choice. I want to stay. Just leave me alone, please,” Kaka was quoted saying.

But what followed was, “My desire was to stay at Milan, but the world crisis has affected clubs a great deal... I spoke with the Milan board and we concluded that the best thing for everyone would be if I was sold,” said Kaka, which surely didn’t please many Rossoneri fans.

The truth is that if Kaka would have wanted to help Milan get over global economic crisis, he would have accepted the offer from Manchester City back in January which was reportedly over €100 million, much more than what Real Madrid paid for the Brazilian eventually.

At the end of the Manchester City saga, Kaka made a hollow statement of “never having thought about leaving the club for even 30 seconds”. If that was the case, why did his agent and father hold talks in the first place?

It was all too apparent that Kaka’s declining of Manchester City didn’t translate into his loyalty to Milan. He waited for his time and chose the right club for him, which in every way he has a right to.

“I was very flattered by Manchester City's interest in January but it is just a project at the moment. And with projects sometimes you don't know how long the investment will be there for.

“Things can be great one moment and not so great the next moment. The organisation can collapse like a pack of playing cards. I felt the time was right for a change and Real Madrid is the club for me,” said Kaka.

Yes, the “time was right for a change” and maybe, the Milan faithful would have been a little less disappointed had he not made those comments of ending his career at the San Siro a zillion times. Former Milan star, Zvonimir Boban’s statements echoed what many Milan fans had in their mind, but didn’t want to admit or come out in the open with.

"I am disappointed with the fact that Kaka spoke about an eternal love and then in the end it was all false because he wanted to go.

"Milan have never sold such great players and I am disappointed. I am sorry for all this and it's a shame that money makes players leave, but there have been players who have stayed on. However, Kaka was free to make his own choice,” said the Croat.

Moving on to Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the most loved and hated figures in the footballing world today! Statements such as “I love it when fans jeer me” don’t help either!

After the famous ‘wink’ at the 2006 World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo was a hate figure for all English fans and he reportedly said,” I have told my agent that I would like to leave. I want to play for Madrid and I dream about it.”

When he returned to Old Trafford, he was booed in almost every stadium in England and yes, he did love when the fans jeered him and it took his performance on to another level, something one never saw in the Portuguese. He won several awards at the end of the season and was once again linked to Real Madrid.

Following another dream campaign with United where he scored 42 goals in the season, he was pursued by Real Madrid in a way, which rubbed Sir Alex Ferguson the wrong way. Before the Champions League finals against Chelsea, there were quotes attributed to him which stated that he would love to join the Galacticos. Practically, the whole of last summer saw one of the most tiring battles to acquire the services of the Portuguese star.

The last season saw Ronaldo state a couple of times, that he would love to stay at United and break Ryan Giggs’ record of maximum appearances for the Red Devils. But after the Champions League final, which was the last game of the season, he made it clear that he wasn’t sure of his future.

His forever “in the future, you never know” stance was known to all United fans, who knew at the core of their hearts that one day, the magician would leave Old Trafford to fulfil his individual ambitions and conquer another league.

Kaka’s ‘holier than thou’ style hasn’t gone well with several Milan fans and especially with all the talk about the “eternal love” with Maldini’s club. For all the arrogance and his blunt self-assessment of “I know I’m the best” and “I am Cristiano Ronaldo”, at least CR7 was honest and diplomatic enough to hint that he was never going to stay.

At least the flashy Ronaldo didn’t give the hope to United fans that he was to be a Red Devil forever, unlike the religious and self-effacing Kaka...    

Rahul Bali.