LONDON , England ( CNN ) -- He 's the man who has just rejected offers of up to $ 700,000 a week in wages -- but who really is Kaka ? And what has he done to deserve so much money ? Wanted man : Kaka overcame a spine fracture before getting to the top of world football . Born in Brazil in 1982 , Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite , or `` Kaka '' as he is more commonly known , is a footballer with Italian club AC Milan . His name , Kaka , is believed to come from a brother , who began calling him that due to his inability to say his proper name -- Ricardo . Said to be an amazing talent from a very young age , the attacking midfielder began his career with Sao Paulo at the tender age of eight , and had signed his first contract before his 16th birthday . Do you think Kaka should have stayed at AC Milan or taken the money at Manchester City ? Tell us in the Sound Off box below . However , when all seemed set for a perfect career , Kaka suffered a serious , potentially paralyzing injury from a swimming pool accident in 2000 . The then 18-year-old fractured a vertebra in his spine -- an injury that many thought could have ended his career and even prevented him from walking again . Kaka did recover though , and it 's something that the deeply religious Brazilian has put down to the help of God , and ever since has given some of his income to his Church . Once recovered , he did n't waste time in getting his career restarted . By January 2001 he had made his debut in the Sao Paulo senior team and led the team to its first Torneio Rio-Sao Paulo championship . The following year he was a part of the Brazil team which won the 2002 FIFA World Cup , and in 2003 his talents had attracted the interest of European clubs and he signed to AC Milan for euro 9 million ( $ 12 million ) per season , and remains under contract with them through 2013 . Since then he 's won the Serie A , UEFA Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup with AC Milan , while on a personal level he won the 2007 Ballon d'Or Award for the best player in Europe and the FIFA World Player of the Year 2007 -- among many other awards . His international performances have continued to be strong -- and he has now scored 23 goals for Brazil . Such is his influence inside and outside of football , that Kaka was named in the Time 100 most influential people in 2008 . Outside of the game Kaka has continued to be a devout Christian . He married his long-time partner Caroline Celico in 2005 , and they had their first child in June 2008 . Oddly , the current season ( in which he finds himself being offered the biggest football salary ever ) has n't been as profitable for Kaka . The 26-year-old has struggled with a groin injury and has not managed to combine as smoothly within the AC Milan team compared to previous seasons . Still , that did not seem to worry Manchester City -- or Real Madrid , and for now at least , the $ 150 million transfer effort remains the biggest in football 's history .
Kaka is a Brazilian attacking midfielder who plays at AC Milan in Italy . At the age of 18 Kaka broke a vertebra in a swimming pool accident . He was named FIFA World Player of the Year for 2007 .