SOCCER: Mark Hughes is confident once Kaka hears the grand plans for Manchester City, he will have no hesitation in quitting AC Milan to complete one of the most sensational transfers in football.
Milan confirmed last night they were considering a £108million (€121million) bid for the former world footballer of the year.
Privately, City owner Sheikh Mansour is confident the offer will be accepted. His difficulty will be persuading Kaka of the viability of his plans.
However, Hughes, who stressed he has been involved in discussions all the way through rather than being sidelined as some have suggested, does not feel there will be a problem.
"We are all working to the same end; trying to be successful on a regular basis," said Hughes. "You do that by bringing good players to the club to supplement those we already have.
"It is not something that will happen overnight and we have to let people understand what we are trying to do and understand where this club will go in the next few years.
"Once they understand that and recognise the people driving it forward they will become excited by what we can offer."
Reduced to bringing in ageing stars such as Ronaldinho and, on a short-term loan, David Beckham to bolster their ranks, Milan realise City's bid, which is said to last only until the end of this month's transfer window, represents a heaven-sent opportunity to restore Milan to former glories.
The next few days are likely to be taken up with assessing the former world player of the year's various sponsorship agreements and discovering how easily these can be transferred to England from Italy.
Various meetings will then take place involving Kaka and his advisors, including his father who has played such a key role in guiding the 26-year-old's career, AC Milan and City officials, the outcome of which will determine whether the transfer actually goes through.
"I have no idea whether he will end up here," admitted Hughes. "It is dependent on too many factors.
"However, people should not think this is just being done on a whim.
"(Executive chairman) Garry Cook, (chairman) Khaldoon al-Mubarak and I have discussed this for numerous months and Kaka was in our thoughts right from the outset.
"It is not something we have only thought of in the last week and decided to act and it would be naive of people to think I have not been involved in the process.
"It has moved forward at a pace this week. It is a football decision that has been done with a structure and an understanding that we can move it forward."
