With Tiemoue Bakayoko heading to Milan, the FC crew discuss why he struggled at Chelsea and how he can help a club eager to return to the UCL.
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Kaka said he would be in Italy next weekend to see his former club AC Milan face Roma in Serie A, but that a permanent move back to the Rossoneri is not part of his immediate plans.
The 36-year-old ended his playing career at Orlando City last year and he has been linked with a return to Milan, where compatriot Leonardo and former teammate Paolo Maldini have recently assumed influential managerial roles.
However, he says he wants to dedicate himself to his family in the near future and only move back to Milan when he is ready to do so.
“The priority for me is to remain with my children Luca and Isabela, who are still small and live in Sao Paulo,” he told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport. “Luca’s 10 years old and Isabel seven. For me, it’s difficult to leave them now, so I’m not looking for any particular role.
“And I still need to study too and understand the mechanisms of work which is new to me. I’m going to follow a course to become a sporting director here in Brazil and as soon as it’s possible, I’ll take the one to become a coach in Coverciano, but only to round myself off.
“Right now, I want to stay by my family and I cannot imagine any precise job. I was going to come to Italy anyway in this period, for personal reasons, so I’ll take advantage of this to test the water. I’ll be at San Siro as a fan, but obviously in future I’d like to do more for Milan, it’s just a matter of time.”
By then, Kaka believes Milan will be well on their way back to becoming the club they were when he wore their colours, and won the Champions League.
“They are a club who are seriously looking to regain their place among footballing royalty,” he said. “They must not underestimate the Europa League either — when the sides knocked out of the Champions League arrive, it becomes very fascinating and winning it could be crucial.
“I can understand the fans because I am one of them, but starting to have success again is the first objective and if you can win [the Europa League], you get to play in the Super Cup, and just think what Atletico Madrid did in beating Real Madrid.
“Ideally, they have got to get back into the Champions League — that has got to be the rational objective, although it would be amazing to win something straight away.”
That is not likely to be Serie A, though, with Kaka predicting another Scudetto for Juventus.
“Juve have so much quality and they are used to winning,” he said. “On paper, they are the best side in the league and there’s no doubt about it, but so many things can happen and thinking big is part of the club’s DNA.
“Football is unpredictable. Juventus are ahead of everybody, but talking about Milan, I can see how the support of the fans, for example, could be a determining factor in rising the hierarchy. The objective is to rebuild, but of course it would be great to win straight away.”
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