Man City deal for Kaká plagued by poor negotiation tactics

With the mainstream media combing through crumb of information for a possible insight into whether the massive €120m offer for AC Milan’s Kaká will bring the talented maestro to the Citizens and various pundits debating the worthiness of paying any Footballer £500k per week, ownership is starting to raise their eyebrow at who is spearheading their efforts.

As Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak took over the club, they not only brought Manchester City financially strong ownership but a highly successful business team that understands negotiation tactics from every angle. While publicly they have continued to give a vote of confidence with the club management they are growing weary of their "point men" as they stumble through the negotiation of Mr. Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, aka Kaká.

Make no mistake about it, the ownership is committed to the long-term success of Manchester City and while the club stumbles presently, they will stay the course and provide supporters the hardware they clamour for in time. Their initial £32.5m acquisition of Brazilian star Robinho from Real Madrid before the summer transfer window closed was just the start of things to come but very quickly they have realized they need a bigger "business team" with City if they are to achieve their goals. In leading the charge for Kaká, ownership has provided the financial resources to secure the deal but in the negotiation upper management is stumbling and not providing all the reasons why the young Brazilian should move to City.

While some managers with the Premier League, such as Arsenal's Arsène Wenger scoff at the size of the offer, every owner and business manager rubs their hands with glee knowing full-well that this will have a direct impact upon the bidding war between Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN, Sky Broadcasting Group Plc and Setanta Sports Ltd. for the the rights to broadcast Premier League matches, as well as the global brand of Football in England and naturally asset valuations of each club. While naturally the economic downturn has thrown a dark pall on the sale of many clubs, backroom deal-makers are well aware that elevated broadcast revenue will punch up simmering offers and wait to see how the bids turn-out this February.

In a very circuitous route, this returns to the Kaká saga because not only is Man City's ownership questioning how this deal is being orchestrated but so are the many business entities that will be directly impacted by it. Leading into a major rounds of talks between Kaká's representatives and Man City on Monday, a change negotiation tactics are needed.