Former AC Milan player and Ballon D'or winner, Ricardo Kaka has finally called it quits with football after years of meritorious service.
Ricardo Kaka
Football legend, Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, commonly known as Kaká has announced his retirement from professional football.
He confirmed his retirement on his official social media pages.
The former Brazil international has, along with Sao Paulo, been linked with a return to AC Milan, where he won the Champions League, Serie A and the Ballon d’Or during the peak of his career.
Speaking to Globo on Sunday, he described his decision to call it quits.
''I needed time to think and take a very calm decision, very calm and very aware of what I will want for my professional life. Then I asked some people very close to me— my parents, my brother, my girlfriend and my brother’s wife, there are five people— I asked them to pray''.
''And studying, seeing what happened in this moment, proposals. I went to Europe to watch some games, to feel the emotion of the game there, where football really has its highest point. And very aware, I came to a conclusion that it’s time to end my career as a professional footballer.''
"A new stage of preparation comes. Now I will prepare myself to continue in football and to have another role, but it will not be as a professional player, athlete. I would like to take part in a club in a form more… a manager, a sporting director, someone that stays between the pitch and the club.
"I prepared myself a lot to be a professional footballer and I want to prepare myself for this new role, I want to see and observe a little from afar.
"The fact that I’ve had successes as a professional footballer doesn’t mean that I will be a good director or not. So I want to prepare myself for this from now on, to study, to follow, to be closer to some clubs, principally those at which I played."