Calcio Debate: Kaka To Madrid – Is Italian Football Now At Real Risk?

What has happened to Italian football? The modern game may be dominated by money and greed, but is Calcio on some kind of mission to rid itself of every big-name star? Since when has Italy become a selling country?

Serie A has flopped miserably in Europe over the past couple of seasons and, while there are numerous reasons why, there can be no denying that one of the major factors has been the inability to match the spending power of the Premier League, and the Spanish big two of Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Look around the superpowers of Serie A – Inter, Juventus and Milan – where are the household names? On Sunday, Italy lost three, albeit ageing, legends in Paolo Maldini, Luis Figo and Pavel Nedved. Kaka will almost definitely leave to move to Real Madrid, while the chances of Zlatan Ibrahimovic joining him in La Liga are 50-50.

How can Serie A expect to dominate Europe again by selling their best players? Milan have had their spine ripped from them in a matter of days. First their soul and central pillar in defence Maldini, then their coach Carlo Ancelotti, and now it seems their best player Kaka. The Rossoneri are a painfully old team. The only first team players who are young are Kaka, Pato and Mathieu Flamini. New trainer Leonardo surely should have built the new era around these three stars.

Granted, Kaka's recurring injury problems are a real worry (something that should concern Real Madrid fans too), and he is not the same player he was in 2007, but this is a risky transfer. If Milan were to actually spend all the €65m they receive for the Brazilian on three or four world class stars, then perhaps selling to Madrid is a wise move. If reported targets Philippe Mexes, Hernanes, and Emmanuel Adebayor all arrive, the Rossoneri will certainly be stronger.

But, will this happen? President Silvio Berlusconi has seemingly lost all interest in the team he took to greatness in the late 1980s and 1990s. Milan are in debt, as are virtually every club in Europe, but Berlusconi no longer wants to be the sugerdaddy who bails them out of trouble. Those who follow Italian politics will know that Silvio has far more important things to worry about right now. Who wants to bet that the confirmation of Kaka’s sale won’t arrive until next week because Berlusconi doesn’t want to risk harming his European election nomination?

With so many big, established names being exported, it seems that only youth can now save Serie A as they attempt to close the gap on the Premier League. The Italian league undoubtedly has the best crop of youngsters in European football. No other championship can boast of such potentially awesome talents like Pato, Mauro Zarate, Mario Balotelli, Davide Santon, Sebastian Giovinco, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Kwadwo Asamoah, Alexis Sanchez, Marco Motta, and Stevan Jovetic.

But will youth be enough? For starters, the top Italian clubs rarely trust players under the age of 23, and who is to say that once they are mature enough, they won’t be shipped off to England for extortionate amounts? Napoli star Lavezzi seems as if he could be on his way to Liverpool for €30m.

The problem is not all Italy’s. One can only admire their traditional values, and determination not to sell out to rich, foreign investors who are crushing the soul of the game. Can you imagine a Serie A where Milan are owned by a Russian, Juventus by an American, and Inter by a Sheikh? It is unthinkable.

Perhaps the clubs need to be a little tougher in rejecting offers for big-name stars. When a player wants to depart, as Ibrahimovic seems to crave, it is difficult to hold him against his will. However, when a player repeats time after time that he wishes to stay, declaring his love for the club at every opportunity, as Kaka has done with Milan, this is where the decision to sell becomes difficult to understand.

It remains to be seen how Milan use Kaka’s money (and Yoann Gourcuff’s for that matter) but if they merely use it to pay off a few debts, then Italian football fans really should start worrying about the future of Calcio.

What are your views on this topic? If Kaka joins Real Madrid, what does this mean for Milan and Italian football? Goal.com wants to know what YOU think…

Carlo Garganese, Goal.com