AC Milan's Brazil star Kaka is the favourite to become this year's European Footballer of the Year, top Premier League coaches Jose' Mourinho and Arsene Wenger believe.
The 25-year-old Brazilian stood out in AC Milan's victorious Champions League campaign and recently helped them add the European Super Cup to their tally of trophies.
He is widely seen as having an edge over other touted contenders such as Manchester United's Portuguese ace Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid's Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy and Roma captain Francesco Totti, top scorer in Europe last year.
Mourinho and Wenger agree.
Speaking at a UEFA coaching conference here, Chelsea boss Mourinho said: "I reckon there are six, seven or eight contenders for the Ballon d'Or (Golden Ball).
"But if you take into consideration the quality of the player, his fair play and the success achieved with his club, I would give this award to Kaka".
Arsenal coach Wenger said: "You have to remember that 2007 is a year without a World Cup, so the most prestigious competition is the Champions League.
"It would therefore be logical to award the Ballon d'Or to a Milan player and Kaka seems to me the ideal candidate".
France Football magazine awards the prize - seen as more prestigious than the FIFA World Player of the Year award - at the end of November.
This year's nominees will be announced in mid-October.
Kaka really staked his claim to the prize during Milan's semi-final clash with Manchester United, which had been billed by many as a battle between the Brazilian and the English giants' danger man Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal.
Over the course of the two legs, Kaka clearly came out on top, scoring three of the five goals that set his side on their way to their victory over Liverpool in Athens.
In the process he took his Champions League goal tally for the season up to ten, two short of van Nistelrooy's all-time record.
As well as having superb control and dribbling skills, Kaka seems to be able to anticipate the intentions of team-mates and opponents alike to to choose the right pass every time.
He is also blessed with an explosive turn of pace - from a standing start he can cover 30 metres in 3.8 seconds - and is a tireless worker whose movement off the ball is as good as it is on it.
His coolness in front of goal has led coach Carlo Ancelotti to play him further forward than his usual attacking midfield position recently, almost as a support striker.
Ancelotti believes the Brazilian is even more complete than French great Zinedine Zidane because he has finer goalscoring instincts.
"Zidane was fabulous, but Kaka is more concrete," said the Milan boss, who coached Zidane for two years at Juventus.
Kaka, whose full name is Ricardo Izecson Dos Santos Leite, learned his trade with Sao Paulo, where he scored 21 goals in two seasons in Brazil's top flight before joining Milan in 2003.
He has scored 40 times in his 133 appearances for Milan.
For Brazil, Kaka has turned out 52 times and scored 18 goals.
He made his Brazil debut against Bolivia in 2002 and played a minor role in the World Cup triumph later that year.
Kaka is now a regular with the seleçao, which he captained in a friendly against Switzerland last November.
He is married and is a devout Christian - every time he scores he looks up to the sky as a sign of thanks to God.
