Transfer talk: Spanish press suggest Kaka for Adebayor swap deal

Once again Kaka is being linked with a move to City, this time in a possible swap with Emmanuel Adebayor. Kaka to City is hardly an original story, yet this potential deal provokes some interesting thoughts.

Kaka has suffered injuries and a loss of form since his transfer to Madrid. In fact his form had been slipping prior to leaving Milan. Ozil is Mourinho’s signing and prefered creative midfielder.

Yet Kaka is too big a name with too big a wage packet to be left on the sidelines, even for Madrid. A parting of the ways could happen, but who could afford the Brazilian? City, Chelsea, Inter, Milan, United maybe.

At 28 and not getting any quicker, United would be unlikely to bite. A return to Milan would require Galliano to show his scheming and pull out a deal similar to the Ibrahimovic ‘loan’.

The main reason for interest here is in seeing how Financial Fair Play will affect club’s dealing with star players and their salaries.

Inter need to reduce wages so they can be ruled out. City and Chelsea are in a similar position on the face of it. We keep hearing how senior people at City are confident we can conform to Financial Fair Play, yet there is currently little evidence of how.

Getting top earners who don’t feature, like Adebayor, off the wage bill is likely to be a priority this summer. Dzeko has clearly taken Ade’s place in the City squad yet few others will be able to afford the wages of the Togolese.

Therefore if Mourinho rates Ade as a viable alternative to Higuin, then City should look to facilitate a deal. Real will no doubt pressure Ade’s people to take a cut in wages, as they did for the duration of his loan.

Similarly, Kaka is likely to be encouraged to take a hit in his wage packet if he wants to play regularly. Real and City won’t be able to ask large fees for these players as the money will be required to move the players onto smaller wages.

Therefore ‘swap’ deals become more appealing as they enable clubs to save face.

Whether we need Kaka is another matter. Silva is our creative force at the moment, though there are times when we need an alternative. Kaka is different in that he plays more centrally and has a greater goal threat. The big question is whether he could perform in the Premier League at a time in his career when injuries and age (28) have taken the edge off his game.

He’s unlikely to be the force he once was, but is hardly rubbish either. The difficulty for the manager is the need to build a side around Kaka to get the best out of him.

Mancini has recently spoken about our lack of quality on the flanks and our reliance on Adam Johnson. If we were to go shopping for a creative player in Spain, then Juan Mata may be more to our manager’s liking. Younger, cheaper and able to play wide, the Spanish international would be a less heralded but, possibly, better addition.

Watching how clubs try and ease out non-performing big earners is likely to be an interesting spectator sport this summer as Financial Fair Play starts to bite.