Kaká, the former Milan and Real Madrid midfielder, announced on Sunday that he is retiring from football.
The 35-year-old Brazilian announced his retirement on Twitter. “It was much more than I could ever imagined. Thank you!” he said. “I’m now ready for the next journey. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
Kaká announced this year that he would not extend his contract with Orlando City but opened the door to a possible return to Milan, the club where he made his name.
“I would like to participate in the club in another way, as a manager, a sporting director, as someone who is between the pitch and the club,” he said in a farewell interview with Globo TV in Brazil. “I prepared very hard to be a professional footballer and I want to prepare for this new role.”
Kaká said Milan, with whom he won the Champions League in 2007, had offered him a role but did not specify the exact nature of the job or say if he would accept it.
Milan and his first team, São Paulo, both offered him a playing contract to extend his career but Kaká, who was in Brazil’s World Cup-winning squad in 2002, said the time was right to call it a day.
The Brazilian joined Milan in 2003 and stayed for six years before joining Real Madrid for a then-world record €65m (£56m) fee. After winning one league title and one Copa del Rey in Spain, he returned to Milan in 2013 before joining the new MLS side Orlando City, becoming the highest-paid player in MLS history.
Kaká was the last player apart from Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to win the Ballon d’Or, winning in 2007 after leading Milan to the Champions League, scoring 10 goals in the process.