Milan

Kaká and Brazilian President Lula
A.C. Milan, fresh from winning the 2003 Champions League, brought him aboard in 2003 for €8.5 million, a fee described in hindsight as "peanuts" by club owner Silvio Berlusconi.[9] Within a month, he cracked the starting lineup, and his Serie A debut was in a 2–0 win over A.C. Ancona. He scored ten goals in thirty appearances that season, as Milan won the Scudetto and the European Super Cup.
Kaká was a part of the five-man midfield in the 2004–05 season, usually playing in a withdrawn role behind striker Andriy Shevchenko. He scored seven goals in 36 domestic appearances as Milan finished runner-up in the Scudetto race. Despite Milan losing the 2004–05 Champions League final to Liverpool F.C. on penalties, he was nonetheless voted the best midfielder of the tournament.
2005–06 saw Kaká score his first hat-tricks in domestic and European competition. On April 9, 2006, he scored his first Rossoneri hat-trick against Chievo Verona; all three goals were scored in the second half. Seven months later, he scored his first Champions League hat-trick in a 4–1 group stage win over RSC Anderlecht. The football world was beginning to take notice of a superstar in the making.

Kaká with Milan
Shevchenko's departure to Chelsea FC for the 2006–07 season allowed Kaká to become the focal point of Milan's offense as he alternated between the midfield and striker positions. He finished as the top scorer in the 2006–07 CL campaign with ten goals. One of them helped the Rossoneri eliminate Celtic FC in the quarterfinals on a 1–0 aggregate, and three others proved fatal for Manchester United in the semifinals despite Milan losing the first leg. Following the convincing 3–0 second-leg defeat at the San Siro on May 2 that knocked out the English champions, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson declared that Kaká was one of the two best players in the world, alongside his charge Cristiano Ronaldo.
Kaká added the Champions League title to his trophy case for the first time when Milan defeated Liverpool F.C. on May 23, 2007. Though he went scoreless, he won a free kick that led to the first of Filippo Inzaghi's two goals, and provided the assist for the second. For his stellar play throughout the competition, he was voted the Vodafone Fans' Player of the Season in a poll of over 100,000 UEFA.com visitors. On August 30, Kaká was named by UEFA as both the top forward of the 2006–07 CL season and Club Footballer of the Year.[10]
He played his 200th career match with Milan in a 1–1 home draw with Calcio Catania on September 30, and on October 5, he was named the 2006–07 FIFPro World Player of the Year. On December 2, 2007, Kaká became the eighth Milan player to win the Ballon D'or, as he finished with a decisive 444 votes, long ahead of runner-up Cristiano Ronaldo.[11] He signed a contract extension through 2013 with Milan on February 29, 2008.[12]
Due to his contributions on and off the pitch, Time magazine named Kaká in the Time 100, a list of the world's 100 most influential people, on May 2.[13] On October 14, he cast his footprints into the Estádio do Maracanã's sidewalk of fame, in a section dedicated to the memory of the country's top players.[14]
On January 13, 2009, it was reported by the BBC that Manchester City made a bid for Kaká for over £100 million. Milan director Umberto Gandini replied in an emailed comment, "The only thing I can say is that the offer is huge and the club is pondering it carefully," and added that Milan would only discuss the matter if Kaka and Manchester City agreed to personal terms.[15] Kaká initially responded by telling reporters he wanted to "grow old" at Milan and dreamed of captaining the club one day, but later said, “If [Milan] want to sell me, I’ll sit down and talk. I can say that as long as the club don’t want to sell me, I’ll definitely stay.”[16] On January 19, Berlusconi announced that City had officially ended their bid after a discussion between the clubs, and that Kaká would remain with Milan.[17] Milan supporters had protested outside the club headquarters earlier that evening, and later chanted outside Kaká's home, where he saluted them by flashing his jersey outside a window.[18]