Brazilian football star Kaka has spoken out on his 2015 divorce following a bizarre claim made by his ex-wife.

Whilst at AC Milan in 2005, Kaka married his childhood sweetheart Caroline Celico, and they had a son and daughter together, before splitting a decade later.

Last week, it was reported that Celico had revealed they divorced because, in her words, 'he was too perfect for me'. 

Kaka, now 41, broke his silence in a podcast, reported by Spanish outlet Sport, and revealed he did everything he could to avoid the split, because of his strong religious values, noting 'A Christian does not marry to get a divorce'.

The former Real Madrid and Orlando City star said: 'In 2015 I was married, and my wife at the time decided she didn't want to be married anymore. 

'She said, "I'm not happy and I attribute my unhappiness to marriage".

'I was living in the United States, and she asked to go back to Brazil. 

'Her words were, "I want to go back to Brazil, I want to live there and I don't want to be married anymore".'

He recommended a book to others struggling with their marriage, and added: 'I did everything I could to prevent the divorce from happening, because that's where the Christian's conflict arises.'

Celico - who has since remarried - explained why they decided to split, as previously reported by The Sun.

'Kaka never betrayed me,' she said. 'He treated me well, he gave me a wonderful family, but I was not happy, something was missing. 

'The problem was, he was too perfect for me.'

After their split in December 2015, Kaka struggled to deal with the divorce, as it conflicted with his Christian values.

He said: 'I stayed single for a year, trying to assimilate the situation and dealing with it as a Christian, talking to the pastors, because the Bible tells you not to get divorced and I was there, getting divorced.' 

However, he began dating current partner, Brazilian model Carolina Dias, in 2017, with their engagement announced earlier this year.

They also have a one-year-old daughter together.

Kaka enjoyed a glittering career for the likes of Sao Paulo, AC Milan, Real Madrid and Orlando City before retiring from the game in 2017.

Kaka's highly decorated career saw him the Champions League at the club level, whilst he earned 92 caps and won the World Cup with Brazil.