MADRID, Spain - For a smaller fee, Real Madrid were able to achieve what Manchester City failed to do in January.

The Spanish giants prised playmaker Kaka away from AC Milan late on Monday.

While Man City offered close to £100 million (S$236 million) for the gifted Brazilian, Real offered only a reported £56 million, still a world-record fee that eclipsed Zinedine Zidane's £46-million move from Juventus to Real in 2001.

Kaka will also sign a six-year contract worth £200,000 a week, making him the highest-paid player in the world.

Speaking at the Brazil national team's headquarters as they prepare for the Confederations Cup, he said that financial worries were the reason for Milan accepting Real's offer.

He said: "I'm not disappointed. I've won everything that I wanted as a Milan player and this is a new motivation for me.

"The club needed to make this sacrifice, and I understand this very well. I don't blame the club for this."

He said that he was sure he could help his new club, who were overshadowed this season by Treble-winning Barcelona.

"I'm sure Real will build a competitive team which can start winning titles again, as they have always done throughout the club's history," he said.

"I'm sure Real can become major competitors in Spain and in European football."

Can he succeed as a Real star? Will he thrive in president Florentino Perez's renewed galactico experiment, where stars are collected and team chemistry is often forgotten?

REAL HERO
For one thing, Kaka defies the model of a modern footballer and the galactico tag will not entirely suit him.

The devoted Christian largely avoids celebrity parties and does not worry too much about his image, preferring to express himself on the pitch with his mesmeric skill and driving runs.

He had said he would remain at Milan, but the departure to Chelsea of coach Carlo Ancelotti, a mentor to Kaka, hit the Brazilian hard.

"He made me become great. It was him that opened the doors of the (soccer) world to me," Kaka said last week.

Nonetheless, his technical ability, honed through years of poking holes through tough Italian defences, will serve him well as Real's central playmaker.

MERE GALACTICO
Already, Kaka's arrival will pose tactical problems for new Real coach Manuel Pellegrini.

Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder already occupies the same position. Will he be willing to cede that to Kaka?

Not only that, it appears that Perez is planning on even more 'shopping sprees' to buy as many football stars as he can.

Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo remains a perennial target, and Valencia striker David Villa is also being courted.

Liverpool's cultured midfielder, Xabi Alonso, is also attracting Perez's interest, as is Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery.

Will all these transfer targets gel into a well-drilled team in time for next season? Given the massiveness of the facelift, it is highly unlikely.

Kaka may be about to get a rude awakening by playing for a team that have too many stars, and no clue about how to shape a cohesive team.

The galactico experiment - which featured stars like Zidane, Luis Figo, Ronaldo and David Beckham - failed the first time Perez was elected president.

Will it find success with Kaka helming the team?

It is a large question mark that will hang over the Brazilian's subsequent career.