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ROME (AP) -AC Milan moved to end speculation Saturday that Brazil playmaker Kaka is up for sale, although the player's spokesman said negotiations with Chelsea are ongoing.
"Kaka is absolutely not for sale," Milan's communications director Vittorio Mentana said in a brief statement posted on the club's Web site.
However, Kaka's spokesman Diogo Kotscho said in Sao Paolo that negotiations are ongoing between the two teams over the 26-year old FIFA player of the year.
"Yes, they are negotiating," Kotscho told The Associated Press. "Chelsea has made a formal proposal to Milan for Kaka."
Kotscho said the Premier League team has offered ?100 million (US$158 million), 15 percent of which would go to Kaka. Representatives of both clubs met twice over the past week in London and Milan, he said.
"Now we are waiting for a contract to be signed which, in my opinion, could happen within days," Kotscho added. "If Milan agrees to let him go, Kaka will have no problem with that decision."
The Milan statement made reference to an article in British newspaper The Guardian, which said Saturday that the negotiations between Chelsea and Milan are at "an advanced stage." The newspaper said Kaka is keen to move to London because Milan will not be playing in the Champions League in the coming season.
Milan finished a disappointing fifth in Serie A last season and will play in the second-tier UEFA Cup.
The Italian team, which was also eliminated by Arsenal in the second round of the Champions League, is looking for a quick rebound. It has signed Ronaldinho and Gianluca Zambrotta from FC Barcelona and midfielder Mathieu Flamini from Arsenal.
