Mohamed Al-Fayed, owner of Fulham and Harrods department store in London, has called on the Premier League and FA to impose transfer and salary caps after what he called the madness of Manchester City's pursuit of Kaká.
City have been flexing their new financial muscle since being taken over by Sheikh Mansour last summer as they immediately bought Brazilian star Robinho for a British record £32.5 million from Real Madrid.
And they are willing to smash the world transfer record to bring AC Milan star Kaká to Eastlands on a reported bid of £108 million.
Should Kaká join City for the fee being reported, it would more than double the current record of £46 million that Real Madrid paid Juventus for Zinedine Zidane in 2001.
But Al-Fayed believes such a deal with a reported weekly salary of £500,000 would cause a great loss to English football.
"It's madness," he told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek.
"If you have one fantastic striker, what about the rest of the team, the players around him? It's gambling to do things like that.
"It's bad news for football because it's crazy.
"All this is still in the hands of the Premier League and the FA. They have the power not to allow things like this to happen and I hope they wake up and realise it's not acceptable. They can put a cap on transfer fees and salaries."
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City have been flexing their new financial muscle since being taken over by Sheikh Mansour last summer as they immediately bought Brazilian star Robinho for a British record £32.5 million from Real Madrid.
And they are willing to smash the world transfer record to bring AC Milan star Kaká to Eastlands on a reported bid of £108 million.
Should Kaká join City for the fee being reported, it would more than double the current record of £46 million that Real Madrid paid Juventus for Zinedine Zidane in 2001.
But Al-Fayed believes such a deal with a reported weekly salary of £500,000 would cause a great loss to English football.
"It's madness," he told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek.
"If you have one fantastic striker, what about the rest of the team, the players around him? It's gambling to do things like that.
"It's bad news for football because it's crazy.
"All this is still in the hands of the Premier League and the FA. They have the power not to allow things like this to happen and I hope they wake up and realise it's not acceptable. They can put a cap on transfer fees and salaries."
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