The board of Corinthians, along with “super-agent” Kia Joorabchian continue their work in trying to negotiate the sale of Alexandre Pato to a European club. Pato’s loan spell has come to an end with city rivals São Paulo and the ex Milan striker has been linked with a host of European clubs, most of the links have come from Corinthians themselves, who have been trying to publicly auction the player for close to two years now.
His transfer to Timão in 2013 was very costly and bore little fruit on the pitch, with the striker falling out with coach Tite due to his attitude. His form improved a little at São Paulo, but the player remains infuriatingly inconsistent for a player of his talent. Corinthians have been working hard to sell the player to Europe in order to try and recoup some of their outlay and move his considerable wages from the books.
UOL Esporte claims that Corinthians have made contact with Liverpool over the last month but have not yet been able to advance negotiations. The UOL report also claims that the club have contacted West Ham United and Chelsea in the Premier League, but have not been able to tempt either into the sale. Barcelona are reportedly monitoring the situation as well.
Pato has one year to run on his Corinthians contract and to lose him on a Bosman next January would represent a financial disaster, despite Tite’s lukewarm proclamations that he would welcome the player back into his squad in the event that no buyer could be found. In public, Corinthians say they want a fee of 20 million Euros for Pato but in reality, they would probably accept less in an attempt to cut their losses.
