AS.com

Little over a month ago, on 12 January, Kaká was sent off against Osasuna in Pamplona for two childish actions after just 17 minutes on the pitch.

Madrid fans were incensed with the Brazilian and, via surveys, unanimously called for him to be sold immediately in the January transfer window.

This prompted an express visit to Milan and a flirtatious dinner with chief executive Adriano Galliani to try and bag a return to Italy.

The Bernabéu were not interested in him, nor his 2007 Ballon d'Or, until he turned the situation around with the ball at his feet. Because with his performances against Sevilla and Rayo Vallecano we were reminded of that frenetic, talented and agile player who conquered the world at the San Siro.

But this time around he had an added intensity to his game, something Mourinho has demanded of him and shown by the fact that he committed more fouls (four) than any other Madrid player against Rayo.

We are now looking at a new Kaká. And his words leave no room for doubt.

"If I keep working as hard as I can, I can still achieve everything," he said after the game with Rayo.

"By training like I am doing at the moment, I can achieve my goals and get the Madrid fans on my side.

"I'm working hard for the team, for my coach and for the Madrid supporters. I have recovered sensations I thought I had lost".

Kaká's resurgence has come just at the right time, before Madrid's mammoth games at the Camp Nou (26 February) and Old Trafford (5 March).

Kaká landed in Madrid in the summer of 2009 for 67 million euros as the club's third most expensive signing of all time, only surpassed by the 75 million for Zidane and the 96 million for Cristiano.

But while the Frenchman proved a profitable signing and the Portuguese now looks to have been a bargain, Kaká, who encouraged 60,000 people to turn up at the Bernabéu one summer's day to watch his presentation, has looked like a giant fiasco.

In fact, the midfielder has played just 33,4% of total competitive matches in three and a half seasons at Madrid. But the fans haven't given up on him yet, and he will be given another chance.