Corinthians President Roberto de Andrade has revealed that he met with ‘super agent’ Kia Joorabchian last week to discuss the sale of Alexandre Pato to a European club. Corinthians still owns the registration of Pato, who finishes a two year loan deal with São Paulo in December. It is unlikely that Corinthians’ city rivals will be able to afford to retain Pato, so Corinthians are setting the wheels in motion to sell him to a European club.
In truth, Corinthians have been somewhat desperate to offload Pato for some time now, with his parent club consistently speaking openly about his sale, presumably in an attempt to entice bidders. Towards the end of the European summer transfer window, Corinthians hired Joorabchian to try and facilitate a sale, with Manchester United said to have made contact. But after nearly 18 months of confident sales dialogue, O Timão are still placing Pato very publicly in the shop window.
Referring to a dinner between himself, Joorabchian and ex Corinthians president Andrés Sanchez, de Andrade said, “The purpose of the dinner was very simple. It is very easy to talk about selling Pato back and forth. But if the player says he does not want to go, it is a waste of energy and time. The idea was that Kia talked to him, and he proved willing to play for a good club.” Corinthians are said to want 25 million Euros for the Brazilian forward, with Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 said to be interested. The player himself is said to be keen on a move to Europe.
“He regained confidence that he didn’t have with us. I consider Pato to be São Paulo’s best player today, with goals and great performances,” continued Roberto de Andrade. “Let’s not forget that Pato is a great player. The fact that he has not been playing for Corinthians does not change that.” Pato was substituted after 60 minutes of São Paulo’s 2-2 draw with Vasco da Gama on Sunday evening.
