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[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/01/16/kakabid.jpg caption="Keep it coming: Can Manchester City's bids for Kaka get any higher?"]
Kaka's exclamation that he wanted to "grow old at Milan" is looking more and more ridiculous.
Perhaps he was misquoted and what he actually said was: "I want to grow at least a week older at Milan."
The off-on-again saga of Manchester City's bid to drag him away from Milan and make him the world's highest paid player looks to be very much back on.
The Italian newspaper La Gazzetta said Friday that the talks were under way, after saying that City had contacted Kaka's father.
The British tabloid Sun newspaper, meanwhile, practically had Kaka with one foot on the plane, reporting City were ready to pay more than £243 million ($363 million) – £108 million ($161 million) each for AC Milan and Kaka and £27 million ($40 million) in commission to brokers and middle men.
It said under the deal Kaka would bank £13.28 million ($19 million) in salary a year after taking home a whopping £225,000 ($336,000) a week.
The fuss has all left a bitter taste in the mouth of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
The Frenchman and economics graduate, known for his parsimony in the transfer market, told Britain's Guardian newspaper that City were the "new Chelsea."
"I believe that if a club produces £100m through the way it manages itself, then it's not immoral to buy a player at any price," he said.
"It does not look real," he told The Guardian when talking about the Kaka bid.
"It's like an abstraction. It does not look in connection to today's world."
Wenger is applying his tight control of the purse strings as he continues to pursue the Zenit St Petersburg midfielder Andrei Arshavin and West Ham's Matthew Upson.
Indeed City's manoeuvres in the January window appear to be dominating the market, with Hamburg's Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong and Spanish club Espanyol's goalkeeper Carlos Kameni set to join, according to the Daily Mail.
Elsewhere in Europe, Real Madrid have renewed their interest in the Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant – but only on a loan as the way is paved for Cristiano Ronaldo to move from Manchester United next season, the Daily Mirror reported.
In France L'Equipe said the Caen striker Steve Savidan had piqued the interest of Lyon and Lazio are apparently interested in the Rangers striker Kris Boyd.
It's all small fry though, as football fans wait for the outcome of the Kaka cash and carry.
Do you think Manchester City can buy their way to success? Have your say in the Football Fanzone debate.