before it can enter the eye of a needle: Kaka’s move makes no sense for him in football terms. The boy from Brasilia is 26 and at the height of his powers. One of the world’s best players at one of the world’s best teams, he should not be departing the game’s premier club competition (the UEFA Champions League) and lowering his sights to join a team doddering four points above their drop zone, whatever his super-remuneration will be.

Man City need steel in defence and grit in midfield before Madhur matka they need a Kaka. In fact a major reinforcement in all areas is required to challenge for the Champions League and overtake established rivals with a team built from scratch, a target which seems surely out of reach for next season. And there is no guarantee the Arab arrival will bear sudden fruit. A quick transformation from PL strugglers to CL contenders? I doubt it. In England alone there are five other clubs who will have a lot to say about any new kids on the block.

Kaka at City just does not bode well. The Blues from the Eastlands already have three Brazilians who have fallen out at various times with their coach, and the rainy North-West of England is still no cultural breeze for South Americans, however open-minded and adventurous the well-bred Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite is. The expectation level will be enormous on one man and unless there five or six other big-money buys, it could all end in more tears.

For the man at the epicenter of this whole shebang, the risk of failure is just too high.

The sporting world is full of examples of the best players leaving the big stage for a fatter pay cheque, particularly in the days when amateur competition existed alongside professional sports.

Pancho Gonzales was the best men’s tennis player for much of the ‘50s and ‘60s but was excluded from the big tournaments because he played for money. Amateur Rugby Union was resigned to losing its best players to professional Rugby League until it turned pro in 1995, while boxing is a clear case of a pure sport tainted, if not ruined, by the green.

Fans and football’s natural order are upset. I should perhaps be glad one of the world’s best players could be on his way to one of the Premier League’s weaker teams instead of to one of the Big Four, but Kaka’s move to Man City almost makes me want to give up following the game I grew up loving.

Rival clubs do not need wage inflation in a time of recession, and supporters do not want to be told the game is only about money, even if it actually is. We would like to think skill, tactics, desire and coaching still have some bearing on soccer success. But the Kaka deal will definitely happen if the money is right. Milan will take the bait, but what about the player?

Saying your favorite book is the Bible and wearing Christian t-shirts for the cameras leaves one inevitably open to scrutiny. So has Kaka read Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:23-24 (or indeed in Mark 10:24-25 or Luke 18:24-25) – “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven…it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”