One of the cruellest insults thrown at Florentino Perez during his first spell at Real Madrid was that the president had turned a great team into football’s version of the Harlem Globetrotters.

For Curly Neal and Meadowlark Lemon read Figo and Zidane. For Wilt Chamberlain and Marques Haynes we had Ronaldo and David Beckham to bring gasps from the crowd and bamboozle the  opposition.

First time around, it took Perez three years to assemble the All-Star cast that came to define his project, and another three for it to collapse under the combined weight of the salaries and egos, and those damned image rights we heard so much about.

In his second spell, Perez seems intent on proving that the only thing he did wrong at the start of the decade was move too slowly.

In the past few days he has pledged 162 million euros in transfer fees alone to sign Kaka from AC Milan and Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

If Marca and As are correct, David Villa will be the next to come, with Xabi Alonso, David Silva and Franck Ribery among the other targets.

The total outlay could be 300 million euros — plus the agents’ fees and the salary commitments for the next half-decade or so. Whether you feel that sort of spending is justifiable in the current climate, and there are plenty who will see it as plain wrong, this is not going to bring Real back to the position they once held as the neutral’s favourite.

The Bernabeu should certainly be an entertaining place to be next season, as Manuel Pellegrini tries to find a way of getting all the new signings playing together (and leaving any of them on the bench will not be an option).

But even if the coach finds the magic formula and Real win their 10th European Cup at their home ground come next May, they are unlikely to generate the sort of admiration and respect that Barcelona have inspired under Pep Guardiola this season.

Great teams are left to evolve over time and are often based around a nucleus of home grown players (think United’s European Cup winning team in 1999 or Guardiola’s Barcelona).

Some are brought together by a coach’s philosophy or force of personality and yes, it often takes a big-name signing to bring out the best in those around them.

Great teams come together in all sorts of ways but they are never designed with marketing in mind, and they are never just bought off the shelf.

GLOBETROTTERS: A member of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team nicknamed Airport hangs on to the hoop after he makes a dunk during an exhibition match in Budapest February 28, 2008 REUTERS/Karoly Arvai

RONALDO: Cristiano Ronaldo is seen celebrating Manchester United’s victory against Porto after their Champions League quarter-final, second leg match in Porto, in this April 15 2009 file photograph. REUTERS/Miguel Vidal

Manchester United said on Thursday they have received a world record 80 million pound ($131.2 million) bid for forward Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid.

“At Cristiano’s request - who has again expressed his desire to leave - and after discussion with the player’s representatives, United have agreed to give Real Madrid permission to talk to the player,” a statement on the United website said.

“Matters are expected to be concluded by 30 June. The club will not comment until further notice.”

So Florentino Perez isn’t just stopping at Kaka. It’s shaping up to be one of the most amazing transfer windows ever. Will he go for Franck Ribery too or will United want him as Ronaldo’s replacement?

It’s not a done deal yet, Ronaldo wanted to go last year and it didn’t happen, but this seems pretty definite. How much money has Perez got?

PHOTO: Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo is seen celebrating after scoring his second goal during their English Premier League match against Aston Villa in Manchester, April 5 2009 REUTERS/Phil Noble

The departure of Kaka from AC Milan to Real Madrid marks the end of the Italian era in European football. Not only can Italian clubs not attract the best players in the world to play in Serie A but now, when they unearth a talent like Kaka, they can’t stop them from leaving.

Italians used to describe their Serie A as ‘il campionato piu bello del mondo’ , the most beautiful championship in the world. It was not just because Italians love nothing more than talking themselves up — Serie A was the first league in the world to sign up top foreign stars, bringing in international talent at a time when the English league, for example, stretched no further than Scotland in search of players.

Beginning in the late 1950’s when the likes of Brazilian Jose Altafini (AC Milan) and Welshman John Charles (Juventus) were among the top performers, Serie A prided itself on being the league that had the money to bring in the best in the world.

After the 1966 World Cup, where Italy was humiliated by North Korea, foreigners were banned as part of an attempt to strengthen the domestic talent base and the national team, but when the rule was relaxed in 1980, the top clubs began importing talent again and before long Italy had become the first league to truly take on global status.

Frenchman Michel Platini at Juventus led the new wave and then the biggest name of all, Diego Maradona almost single-handedly led Napoli to titles in 1987 and 1990. The great Milan sides of Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello were built around foreign stars — the Dutch trio of Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten helped transform Serie A from a league dominated by cautious and defensive teams into a showcase for the world’s best talent.

Germany’s Lothar Matthaeus and Andreas Brehme helped Inter to the title in 1989, and by the nineties, any player in the world who could be considered a match-winner was being snapped up by an Italian team.

Just ten years ago, the top teams in Serie A included players such as Ronaldo at Inter, George Weah and a young Andriy Shevchenko at Milan, Gabriel Batistuta at Fiorentina, Hernan Crespo, Pavel Nedved and Juan Sebastian Veron (all at their peak) at Lazio and the best of his generation, Zinedine Zidane at Juventus. It was the departure of the latter to Real Madrid in 2001 that suggested Spain was beginning to replace Italy as the place where the world’s best could get paid best.

Since then though, England’s Premier League, flush with television cash, has begun gobbling up players that in the past would have headed to Serie A. In the 1990’s the likes of Fernando Torres, Michael Ballack, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Didier Drogba would have almost certainly been Serie A players. Real and Barcelona in Spain and Bayern Munich in Germany have also proven stronger in the transfer market that Italy’s top teams. It would have once been unthinkable that Italian World Cup hero such as Luca Toni would choose to play in the Bundesliga rather than in Milan or Turin.

A week after Milan captain Paolo Maldini, who played with or against all those great talents from the late eighties onwards, finally hung up his boots, Kaka leaves Milan for a fee of around 68 million euros and Adriano Galliani, who runs Milan on behalf of tycoon and prime minister Silvio Berlusconi conceded the golden era of Serie A was now over: “Ten years ago Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo could have played in Italy but now no one even considers it,” he said.

That is the painful truth for Italian fans — it is not so much that Italian clubs cannot compete with Real’s occasional obscene bouts of cash-throwing that hurts but that Italian clubs are no longer even considered as likely destinations for the world’s best or most promising.

Berlusconi talked up Ronaldinho as the man who will now be the standard-bearer for Milan but the impression is that he moved to Italy after his best years, served with Barcelona, were over.

Money is the main reason for Italy’s relegation from Europe’s elite — Milan, Inter and Juventus no longer have the resources to compete with England and Spain’s top clubs. Italian clubs ignored marketing and merchandising as they presumed their wealthy owners — the Berlusconi, Moratti and Agnelli families — would take care of everything. Moratti still finds the cash but Milan and Juve now operate in the world of budgets rather than blockbuster transfer deals.

With the lack of foreign quality and top wages, Serie A has lost the sheen of glamour that once led fans from all over the world to tune in and watch. The days when Ronaldo and Zidane were face to face in an Inter-Juve match, with a supporting cast of quality Italians and exciting foreign players, is over. Does anyone watch Serie A on satellite or cable anymore?

The proof that this really is the end of an era is the way that the Italian media and fans have just shrugged their shoulders at the departure of Kaka. They know they cannot turn down offers of that size — offers their own teams used to make every summer.

KAKA: Kaka attends Brazilian training at Arruda stadium in Recife, northeastern Brazil, June 8, 2009. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes

ZIDANE: Zinedine Zidane shows his Juventus shirt at a news conference announcing his move to Turin, July 3, 1996. REUTERS/Claudio Papi

While Real Madrid were tying up their deal to sign Kaka from AC Milan, Barcelona seemed curiously ambivalent about the possibility of losing one of their big-name players, the  Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o .

The 28-year-old has a contract until 2010 when he will be able to leave free of cost, unless an extension can be agreed or the club decide to cash in on him now.

The first meeting to discuss the issue between his agent Jose Maria Mesalles and Barca’s sports director Txiki Begiristain, took place on Monday with very little seemingly resolved.

“The technical staff and the representative have met to try and agree a period of continuity, which is what we would like,” Barca president Joan Laporta said on the club website.

Mesalles said no renewal proposal had been forthcoming so far, but insisted Eto’o wanted to continue.

He was quoted in Spanish media as saying: “We are open to every possibility. If we have to look at a renewal we will study it, but if there is another possibility we will study that too.”

Inter Milan and Manchester City have been linked with interest for Eto’o, while Barca are reported to have considered a swap deal involving Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and moves for Atletico Madrid’s Diego Forlan or Olympique Lyon’s Karim Benzema*, or maybe even Bayern Munich;s Luca Toni.

But why would they not want to hang on to a player who scored 30 goals in the Primera Liga last season and netted the opener in their Champions League final victory over Manchester United?

Media reports have suggested there are differences over the terms of a renewal, and that coach Pep Guardiola may want a different style of striker to lead the line along with Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi.

Perhaps Barca’s greatest fear is that if they cannot meet the player’s demands on an improved contract, or convince him to take up an offer from another club, he could just walk away from them next year denying them a substantial payday.

It is an issue that is unlikely to be resolved quickly, as Mesalles recognised: “The market is open until August 31 and anything can happen before then.”

PHOTO: Barcelona’s Samuel Etoo scores against Deportivo Coruna during their league match in Coruna May 30, 2009. REUTERS/Miguel Vidal

* corrected at 1730 GMT, June 10 after we originally had wrong first name

They took their time getting there but Kaka is now officially a Real Madrid player.

The Spanish club and AC Milan issued statements at 0030 local time with the player due to hold a news conference in Brazil, where he is on international duty.

No figures have been given for one of the biggest transfers ever in soccer but it has been announced the 27-year-old has signed a six-year deal.

Media reckon the deal is around 68 million euros which puts it second in the list behind Zinedine Zidane’s 2001 move from Juventus to Real.

It’s tough to say if he is really worth that much. It’s difficult to say if any human being is worth so much, especially in current economic climes.

I’ve watched Kaka a lot in the last two seasons and he has not been as good as he was in 2007 when he inspired Milan to their seventh European Cup.

Niggling injuries haven’t helped but a move may reignite his passion.

Will Florentino Perez now up his efforts to sign Cristiano Ronaldo and Franck Ribery? Can he really pull it off or will he have to wait and bring in one Galactico each year like before?

Where this leaves Milan is unclear. The money will come in handy but top players are not coming to Serie A anymore. Kaka’s departure may give Ronaldinho more space to rediscover his form but if that doesn’t work, new rookie coach Leonardo has an enormous hole to fill.

PHOTO: Brazil’s Kaka celebrates a goal against Uruguay during their World Cup 2010 qualifying win in Montevideo, June 6, 2009. REUTERS/Pablo La Rosa

AC Milan’s PR machine has ground to a halt in recent weeks but it may have to leap into action shortly to explain to fans why they have sold Kaka for a good deal less than they could have in January.

Reports say a world record deal, worth between 65 and 80 million euros, has been agreed with Real Madrid but Chelsea have not been counted out yet.

Milan have admitted money is tighter than it has been and it looks like they have decided to cash in on a player who is not quite as good as when he won world player of the year in 2007.

In January, Manchester City left Milan with their tails between their legs after failing to agree a 100 million euro plus transfer for the Brazilian playmaker.

Rossoneri fans were overjoyed when Kaka stayed but the club, who finished third in Serie A, have not gained anything by keeping him for just five extra months.

Instead they have lost maybe 40 million euros and will be selling him to a main European rival rather than City, where it could all have gone pearshaped for him and he might have ended up back at the San Siro on the cheap.

Carlo Ancelotti’s departure for Chelsea was messy. The Milan coach was constantly forced to deny something which everyone knew was going to happen.

It would have been much better for everyone if an announcement had been made a few months ago and Ancelotti would have enjoyed his final weeks at the San Siro rather than having to dodge questions until the end of the season.

Milan have not dealt with the Kaka saga well either.

A statement on Tuesday said chief executive Adriano Galliani was solely in Madrid to celebrate Florentino Perez’s election. He had earlier told reporters he was at the seaside in Italy when he really was in Spain.

Soon after Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi let the cat out of the bag by saying they would struggle to keep Kaka because he had been offered so much money.

Having lost Ancelotti, the retiring Paolo Maldini and now possibly Kaka, it’s been a very tough week for Milan, who have only brought in novice coach Leonardo and joked at his unveiling that it was because he was cheap.

If reports that Chelsea are close to Andrea Pirlo are true, the San Siro could have quite a few empty seats next season.

PHOTO: Kaka’s last Milan apearance? The Brazilian is challenged by Fiorentina’s Manuel Pasqual (R) during their Serie A match in Florence, May 31, 2009. REUTERS/Marco Bucco

Florentino Perez is back on the scene and if the Madrid sports press are right the first ‘Galactico’ of his second era at Real Madrid will be Brazil’s Kaka, assuming he wins next month’s election to the presidency.

“Kaka signed” Marca said on a special wrap-around front cover for Saturday’s edition, while AS led with “Kaka, the details of the agreement.”

There was little evidence given to substantiate the stories, which spoke of a five-year deal agreed with the player and a transfer fee of around 60 million euros agreed with Milan, all linked to a Florentino victory.

On Thursday, Florentino formally declared he would enter the race for the presidency and spoke of plans for a “spectacular sporting project”. He said details would be forthcoming in the near future but his answers to questions were carefully designed to tip the wink.

When asked whether Kaka was on his agenda, Perez was charm personified as he replied with a smile: “I am a friend of (Milan’s vice-president) Adriano Galliani. We often speak to each other.

“Sometimes we talk about football, but you’ll have to wait until the election.”

This sort of talk is music to the ears of Real Madrid fans who are desperate for a return to the glamour of his previous six-year tenure when vast sums were splashed to lure Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham to the Bernabeu.

If timing is everything, the Kaka ‘revelations’ on the Saturday Barcelona could well wrap up the Primera Liga title, are the perfect tonic for downcast Madrid fans.

Also, the reported deal for Kaka is a perfect dig at former president Ramon Calderon, whose resignation back in January precipitated the new election. Calderon was elected to the post in 2006 on the back of a promise to sign Kaka — something he failed to do and something fans never allowed him to forget.

Florentino overshadows the other three candidates being tipped to stand when the registration period opens on May 21.

His media pull is reflected in the fact that Marca, Spain’s biggest selling newspaper, devoted the first 16 pages of Friday’s edition to coverage of his formal entry to the race.

Before the vote is held on June 14, expect further revelations, correct or not, with regards to Franck Ribery, Xabi Alonso, Cesc Fabregas, Cristiano Ronaldo and Arsene Wenger among others — not from Florentino directly, but from his cheerleaders in the Madrid-based sports press.

GALACTICOS NEW AND OLD?: AC Milan’s David Beckham (R) and his teammate Kaka speak during a news conference before their friendly match against Albania in Tirana May 12, 2009. REUTERS/Arben Celi

Potential Real Madrid presidential candidates will be trying to decide whether Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi is the player most likely to deliver them the majority of votes in this summer’s election campaign.

Ramon Calderon was forced out of the presidency earlier this month, setting the wheels in motion for another six months of rumours and speculation as rival candidates manoeuvre behind the scenes to take power at the Bernabeu.

The nine-times European champions are ‘owned’ by the thousands of club members rather than a small group of shareholders, and they get to chose their president every four years.

As a result, candidates need to splash the cash with full blown election campaigns complete with manifestos, lists of promises, advertising campaigns, and rallies to win over the voters and the local media. (more…)

Manchester City’s failed 100 million euros plus bid for AC Milan’s Kaka now begs the question: should there be a limit on the amount of money a club can pay for a player or should there be a salary cap?

Some of Europe’s top soccer clubs and the game’s European governing body UEFA seem to think so, with the news that they have started talks on curbing the amount of money that can be spent on player transfers or wages.

Sources familiar with the discussions have told Reuters that the European Club Association (ECA) — which represents the continent’s leading clubs such as Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan — has proposed clubs should only be allowed to spend around 51 percent of their revenue on transfers or salaries.

Under the ECA proposal, revenue would be determined as money received only from ticket sales, sponsorship, merchandise and television income. It would not include any financial investment by owners or major shareholders. (more…)

Well, at least it wasn’t all bad news for Manchester City on Monday,

You win some, you lose some, as the old saying goes and they may have lost out on Kaka, but City did sign Craig Bellamy from West Ham United.

The Welsh firebrand may not have quite the charisma of the Brazilian pin-up, or quite the same talent, or quite the same following — but he certainly brings something to every club he plays for.

And at 14.0 million pounds he also represents something of a bargain for the club’s owners who can safely put their 100 million pounds or whatever it was they were prepared to spend on Kaka back in their wallets for now. (more…)