All day on Monday, Orlando City have been building up the hype for something. What could it be?
There's no official word yet from the club, but the Orlando Sentinal is reporting what has long been rumored: that Brazilian superstar Kaka is arriving on Monday evening to sign a contract with the Lions, who will jump from USL PRO to Major League Soccer in 2015.
On Monday, the news picked up steam as it emerged that the former World Player of the Year and 2002 World Cup winner had terminated his contract with Italian club AC Milan.
Orlando City have made no attempt to hide their desire to sign Kaka, 32, who is a personal friend of Orlando City majority owner Flavio Augusto da Silva. His co-owner Phil Rawlins said earlier this month that Kaka was tops on their target list.
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"When we first launched, we said we wanted to bring Major League Soccer to Central Florida, and as we got closer to meeting that, the next big statement we made was that in doing that we wanted to make sure we brought a Brazilian superstar," co-owner Phil Rawlins said earlier this month. "Everyone knows our first choice would be Kaká."
A club statement on June 20 admitted that they were in "advanced discussions" with Kaka, who has also played for Real Madrid, and head coach Adrian Heath said the next day: "We hope at this time next year he’s running out in a purple shirt."
Media reports claim that Kaka will go on loan to Brazilian side Sao Paulo, the club where he played as a youth, until he reports for MLS preseason in early 2015.
