It has to be him, right? Right? It just has to be Kaká.
If Orlando City SC truly envision themselves signing a "Brazilian Beckham," something they actually said during local government presentations on Tuesday, when they plan to enter Major League Soccer before 2020 — the four-team expansion timetable set by MLS Commissioner Don Garber — then name an attainable Brazilian player who would have the same "Beckham effect" on MLS, not named Kaká.
You can't do it, because one doesn't exist. We noted the fact that the 31-year-old midfielder is serious buds with Orlando City's billionaire owner Flávio Augusto da Silva back in June. We also speculated on the possibility that Kaká would be the perfect Designated Player in club history, should they join MLS in the near future.
It made all the sense in the world then, and it makes even more sense now when saying they will sign a "Brazilian Beckham."
Kaká started only 12 league games in 2012-13 for Real Madrid and scored three goals. The Brazilian playmaker hasn't started more than 20 games of a 38-game La Liga season since his first season with the Spanish giants in 2009-10. Those numbers considered, he would likely jump at the chance to move his family to Orlando — where he already owns a vacation home — permanently in 2015 or 2016.
The Central Florida club is currently in the process of a bid to secure a small amount of government funding — around $20 million is what they are seeking — in order to build a new soccer-specific stadium in downtown Orlando, which would move the club one step closer to earning an MLS franchise expansion bid.
