Kaka has revealed how close he came to joining Manchester City from AC Milan in 2009.

Brazilian forward Kaka was at the height of his powers in early 2009 when Manchester City launched a world-record bid of £100million for his services.

Milan were open to the offer, but Kaka’s reluctance to join “a team who were only at the beginning of a new project” led him to turn the opportunity down.

“Negotiations went very far indeed. The only thing separating City and I was my final word,” he told FourFourTwo.

“It came to the point where all of the numbers and the finer details had been discussed. The wages I had been offered were much, much higher than what I was earning with Milan.

“I found myself wondering what my life playing in England would be like, what my routine at this new club would be, how difficult it would be for my kids and my wife to move home. All of these thoughts were swirling inside my head.

“I’d absolutely no idea that City were interested in signing me until they’d actually made their official offer to Milan,” he added. “They had gone straight to Milan.

“I came to the conclusion that it was not quite the right time for me to go to City, and the main reason was the uncertainty over the squad-building process.

“It wasn’t clear to me how the squad would be reshaped and I wasn’t convinced it would work. I was being asked to swap one of the most historic and successful clubs in Europe for a team who were only at the beginning of a new project, where I was supposed to be the first big player. It was safer to stay at Milan.”