AC Milan’s Alexandre Pato has taken the time to praise teammate and fellow striker Stephan El Shaarawy by saying he is growing into a great player.
El Shaarawy, 20, has been in fine form for the Rossoneri in the opening months of the 2012-13 campaign, netting six goals in nine Serie A appearances.
Pato has only played twice since coming back from his abductor injury, and the Brazilian hopes his Italian teammate can keep up his fine goalscoring form.
He said: “El Shaarawy is still growing and he is a great player.
“He is on the right track and I hope he can do very well at Milan.”
The Seleção international then reflected on this weekend’s 1-0 win over Genoa, in which El Shaarawy scored, and admitted that Milan did not have an easy game.
Pato added: “We struggled against Genoa, but the most important thing was to bag the full three points after some disappointing results.
“We must forget about our previous results and focus on the future. We have to keep working hard in training, and try and get a good result against Palermo.”
Milan currently sit 11th in the Serie A table with 10 points from nine games and will be looking to add three more to their tally this evening when they face Palermo.
