Report: Kaka to join Orlando City as DP for 2015 MLS expansion season
New York City FC isn't the only 2015 MLS expansion team making headlines as it prepares to enter the league next season.
According to ESPN's Taylor Twellman, the current USL Pro and future MLS franchise has signed Brazilian star Kaka as its first Designated Player. Until Kaka joins the team in 2015, he will reportedly be loaned out to Brazilian club Sao Paulo FC, where he started his career and which is currently providing the World Cup base for the U.S. men's national team. The move is one that has been speculated for some time given Kaka's relationship with Orlando City owner Flavio Augusto da Silva.
There is reportedly no official contract signed at this time, but an agreement is in place, the Orlando Sentinel reports in confirming Twellman's report.
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Kaka, who missed the cut for Brazil's 2014 World Cup team, won the 2002 World Cup with the Selecao. Now 32, he has starred for AC Milan and Real Madrid, winning the Champions League title with the Rossoneri in 2007, the same year he captured Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year honors (the awards are now combined into one). In 37 games for AC Milan this past season, Kaka scored nine goals.
Kaka will join another former World Cup winner, Spain forward David Villa, as the new star power in MLS in 2015. The latter was signed as NYCFC's first player, and the club has also acquired Jeb Brovsky from the Montreal Impact as it begins to build its roster. Like Kaka, Villa will also play on loan before joining MLS, doing so in Australia's A-League with Melbourne City.
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Orlando City SC
Orlando City SC
