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The current object of his fancy is a 26-year-old named Kaka. Sheikh Mansour has reportedly offered Kaka's current team, AC Milan, $200 million to procure his services. That's in addition to $33 million for Kaka's agents and another $17 million for his father, who acts as his son's adviser. Total purchase price – $250 million. Roughly speaking, the equivalent of the gross domestic product of Tonga. The current soccer transfer record is $92 million for Zinedine Zidane in 2001.
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Kaka – nicknamed for the diminutive of his first name, Ricardo – was voted the world's best player in 2007. He is also an evangelical Christian who likes to flaunt his faith.
On several momentous occasions, Kaka has stripped off his jersey to reveal an undershirt with the message: "I belong to Jesus." He bragged that he was a virgin on the night of his wedding.
The sheikh is said to be proposing to guarantee Kaka an after-tax wage of $25 million a year on a four-year deal. That would put his annual gross income at roughly $50 million, far and away the most ever paid to a team athlete. Considering that Kaka tithes a tenth of his pay to the church, the only man happier than his retainers would be his minister.
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Kaka – nicknamed for the diminutive of his first name, Ricardo – was voted the world's best player in 2007. He is also an evangelical Christian who likes to flaunt his faith.
On several momentous occasions, Kaka has stripped off his jersey to reveal an undershirt with the message: "I belong to Jesus." He bragged that he was a virgin on the night of his wedding.
The sheikh is said to be proposing to guarantee Kaka an after-tax wage of $25 million a year on a four-year deal. That would put his annual gross income at roughly $50 million, far and away the most ever paid to a team athlete. Considering that Kaka tithes a tenth of his pay to the church, the only man happier than his retainers would be his minister.
