Speculation continues to whir around the future of Corinthians striker Alexandre Pato, with rumours of a move to Chelsea persisting. It is thought that Chelsea are weighing up an offer for the Brazilian forward, who Corinthians have been openly trying to sell for some time.
With only one year left on his deal at Timão, the São Paulo club consider this their last chance to recoup anything like their outlay when they brought Pato from A.C. Milan in 2013. His time at Corinthians was nightmarish in 2013 as he fell foul of coach Tite, resulting in a 2 year loan spell at São Paulo.
Now Corinthians are desperate to sell him to a club outside of Brazil, with the player having already turned down a move to China because he wants to play in Europe again. Chelsea’s rumoured interest could be heightened after Diego Costa suffered a shin injury in the Blues’ 3-3 draw with Everton on Saturday.
Back up striker Loic Remy also looks set to move to Spartak Moscow. Colombian striker Falcao, on loan from Monaco, is injured and has endured a miserable spell in England. That said, Pato moved to the left wing mid way through last season, having pointed out that his game is not suited to the physical aspect of being a striker.
The Newcastle Chronicle reports that Pato was offered to the northeast club too, but that Steve McLaren and Newcastle turned down the chance to sign the 26 year old. But with injury to Diego Costa and Loic Remy likely to move on, reports suggest that a deal for Pato could be done with Chelsea this week. Pato was excluded from the Corinthians squad that competed in the Florida Cup last week, with Tite telling reporters that a transfer for the ex Milan forward was close at hand.
