The endless speculation surrounding the rumored move for Brazilian striker Alexandre Pato by Chelsea will finally be laid to rest, with reports that the player is flying to London to wrap up the deal.
The Corinthians striker is best known for his time at Serie A club AC Milan, where he spent 6 years before injury derailed his fledgling career, forcing him to move back to Brazil. But after a successful loan deal at Sao Paulo, he now has a chance to earn accolades in Europe again with Chelsea FC set to sign him on a 6-month loan deal.
According to The Guardian, Pato is flying to London on Monday night to finalise all the details of the transfer.
Chance to impress
Although the deal is set to be for 6 months, the Brazilian forward will be looking to make a permanent move back to Europe. He had earlier said that he wanted to join a big club with European ambitions and Chelsea, despite their woeful season this time around, are definitely a club that fit the bill.
Corinthians want at least 10 million pounds for the player, but would be willing to negotiate to get him off their wage bill. This means that Chelsea will be up for a permanent transfer, should Pato have a good run with the club.
Out with the old, in with the new
Pato would provide some challenge for Chelsea’s current undisputed number 1 striker Diego Costa, and will find himself ahead of Loic Remy and Radamel Falcao in the pecking order. It is being rumored that Remy will be loaned out by the Blues, with a number of Premier League clubs interested in signing him up. The currently injured Falcao has not impressed so far at Chelsea and they are looking to offload him back to parent club AS Monaco as soon as possible.
This is like a new lease of life for 26-year-old Alexandre Pato, and should he reach the heights that he was thought capable of reaching before his injury, he could prove to be a very astute first signing by Blues interim manager Guus Hiddink.
