Alexandre Pato has left the door open for a move away from Chinese Super League club, Tianjin Quanjian, this summer, but could Arsenal be interested?
- Pato played for Inter between 2006 – 2007
- Moved to Milan in 2007 and had breakthrough
- Scored 63 goals in 150 appearances for Milan (all comps)
- Forward happy to return to Italy
- Arsenal tried to sign Brazilian in 2015 but failed
Pato appears open to a move away from China this summer, with Inter Milan being his most likely destination after the forward recently confessed his love for Italy.
However, could Arsenal be in with a shot at signing the Brazil international after failing to in 2015?
“I’m in love with Italy: I’m fine in China at the moment and I’m happy to contribute to this project for football development, but in the future who knows,” he told Gazzetta dello Sport [via Goal].
“Would I say ‘yes’ to Inter? Why not? I’m a professional.”
Arsenal have shown genuine interest in Pato in the past, reportedly having a £6.5m bid rejected by Milan in 2013.
Arsene Wenger then met with Corinthians’ director of football, former Gunner, Edu, back in 2015 over a move for the star. However, despite the deal looking as if it could go ahead, nothing ever came to fruition.
“I wasn’t there to tout him [Pato] around but if people ask about him, I’m going to answer,” said Edu.
“I talked and they asked questions – not just about him, but about a few of our players. They know them well. I had lunch with Arsene Wenger and he asked about [Pato] and about others.”
While at the Brazilian club, the international scored 12 goals in 39 appearances, before spending loan spells at Sao Paulo and then Chelsea in 2016. The following year, he spent time at Villarreal before moving to China for £15.5m.
He’s since scored seven goals and assisted two in 14 appearances.
Now, the 27-year-old appears to be up for a move but, by the sounds of it, he’s got his heart set on a return to Inter.