Flamengo denies Kaka interest

Rio de Janeiro, May 25 (IANS): Flamengo’s executive director Paulo Pelaipe has rejected reports the club is pursuing unsettled Real Madrid midfielder Kaka.

The 2007 FIFA world player of the year has struggled for first-team football at the Santiago Bernabeu and is reportedly seeking a move during the European summer transfer window in a bid to revive his stalled career.

But Pelaipe said Kaka’s annual salary of 10 million euros had priced the club out of the race for the 31-year-old.

“This is our style. A responsible style. A club as large as Flamengo cannot say its doors are closed. We are open to new faces,” Pelaipe said Friday.

“But Flamengo has a transfer policy that is grounded. We are trying to recover financially and we assume that we cannot meet his expenses.”

Kaka has also been linked with a return to Italy’s AC Milan, Turkey’s Galatasaray and US Major League outfit New York Red Bulls.