FOOTBALL finance expert Keith Harris believes Manchester City's proposed £108million move for Kaka is bad for football and will not guarantee the club success.
City are in negotiations with the Italian giants over the transfer of the Brazilian playmaker in a deal which, if successful, would smash the world record transfer fee Zinedine Zidane set when he left Juventus for Real Madrid in 2001.
Kaka's father will meet his son and City officials next week to discuss the move, with the Eastlands club thought to be offering the 26-year-old a staggering £500,000 a week salary.
City's takeover by Sheikh Mansour last summer has given manager Mark Hughes a huge transfer kitty and Milan chairman Silvio Berlusconi today hinted that he would not stand in Kaka's way if he decided to leave.
Harris, who brokered Roman Abramovich's purchase of Chelsea, believes City's move is irresponsible in the current global financial crisis
"Is it good for football? It's not easy to see how it can be," the chairman of the investment bank Seymour Pierce told BBC's Sportsworld programme.
"In a world where football chairmen and finance directors are tightening their budgets ahead of a year of great uncertainty, here is a group that is prepared to splash out this type of money.
"What we do know is from history that you can build a team with this kind of money.
"Blackburn did it in the mid 1990s. They did it once and were relegated the season after and it is difficult to imagine this will be a successful team-building exercise."
Hughes' transfer budget has made him the envy of other clubs but Harris believes City should keep their money and exercise restraint in the market.
"The transfer market for players is cut-throat and we should be entering a period restraint. This is excess," he added.
"We should be seeing a trend of worldwide restraint in the wake of some serious problems and this is not what we are seeing here by any measure."
Other managers have criticised the proposed transfer and Harris believes their reaction is understandable as the transfer may have knock-on effects for their clubs.
"You can readily understand the reaction from other football club chairmen and managers," he said.
"Some of it will be out of fear, some will be a little bit of envy but first and foremost, notwithstanding competition, there had been an acceptable level of valuation for players.
"What they will be fearing now is the wage inflation this may bring to their players."
Kaka's father will meet his son and City officials next week to discuss the move, with the Eastlands club thought to be offering the 26-year-old a staggering £500,000 a week salary.
City's takeover by Sheikh Mansour last summer has given manager Mark Hughes a huge transfer kitty and Milan chairman Silvio Berlusconi today hinted that he would not stand in Kaka's way if he decided to leave.
Harris, who brokered Roman Abramovich's purchase of Chelsea, believes City's move is irresponsible in the current global financial crisis
"Is it good for football? It's not easy to see how it can be," the chairman of the investment bank Seymour Pierce told BBC's Sportsworld programme.
"In a world where football chairmen and finance directors are tightening their budgets ahead of a year of great uncertainty, here is a group that is prepared to splash out this type of money.
"What we do know is from history that you can build a team with this kind of money.
"Blackburn did it in the mid 1990s. They did it once and were relegated the season after and it is difficult to imagine this will be a successful team-building exercise."
Hughes' transfer budget has made him the envy of other clubs but Harris believes City should keep their money and exercise restraint in the market.
"The transfer market for players is cut-throat and we should be entering a period restraint. This is excess," he added.
"We should be seeing a trend of worldwide restraint in the wake of some serious problems and this is not what we are seeing here by any measure."
Other managers have criticised the proposed transfer and Harris believes their reaction is understandable as the transfer may have knock-on effects for their clubs.
"You can readily understand the reaction from other football club chairmen and managers," he said.
"Some of it will be out of fear, some will be a little bit of envy but first and foremost, notwithstanding competition, there had been an acceptable level of valuation for players.
"What they will be fearing now is the wage inflation this may bring to their players."
Copyright (c) Press Association
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