The Milan chief executive, Adriano Galliani, has described the club's decision to sell Kaka to Real Madrid as "solely economic" and insisted the player would never have signed for Chelsea as he only ever wanted to play in Spain.

The Brazilian is expected to complete a £56.2m move to Madrid on Monday after agreeing personal terms with the Spanish giants. The move will be met by anguish and anger by Milan supporters but Galliani insisted the offer was simply too good to turn down.

"The reasons for the departure of Kaka are solely economic," he told Gazzetta dello Sport. "Even a great heart must confront the situation and make choices. Milan can not go on losing €70 million year.

"Kaka has behaved very professionally with us, he has never asked for his deal to be revised or his contract extended. He has been here six years and won everything there is to win. But we can't afford to miss out on €70 million."

Chelsea had offered almost £20m more for the 27-year-old but, like Manchester City before them, have had to accept defeat in their attempts to lure the player to England.

"An agreement with Chelsea could not exist," insisted Galliani. "Kaka goes to Real or he remains at Milan. That is his will and we are doing everything in complete agreement."