Arsenal’s bid of £6.6 million for Alexandre Pato has been rejected by Brazilian side Corinthians, according to reports in Brazil.
The Gunners have been linked with a January move for a striker following the north Londoners over reliance on Olivier Giroud up front and Pato has emerged as a potential target for Arsene Wenger.
The report suggests Arsenal have had an £6.61 million bid for Alexandre Pato rejected by his club Corinthians, who are reportedly ready to sell but are holding out for a fee closer to what they paid AC Milan to secure his services.
The report comes after Corinthians director Roberto de Andrade admitted that the Brazilian club are open to selling Pato in January. He said:
If those two clubs [Arsenal and Tottenham] are interested in Pato, we don’t rule out selling him in the winter transfer market.
The Brazilian international left Milan in January 2013 for Corinthians for a reported fee of £10 million but has largely failed to live up to expectations and has now fallen out of favour with the fans in recent weeks who are dissatisfied with his unimpressive performances in front of goal.
The 24 year old has struggled to settle in with the Sao Paulo based outfit, scoring just 17 goals in 57 appearances in all competitions, and now an exit from the club looks certain and has only started three games of the last 11 league matches for the Brazilian club.
Arsenal will face stiff competition from their North London rivals Tottenham who have also been monitoring his situation for some time and failed with their bid to land the striker in the summer.
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He burst onto the scene as a teenager for Internacional and picked up his game even further after signing for Milan in 2007, playing a key role in the club’s run in. However, as injuries began to become a more common occurrence in the youngster’s career his form went out the window and he has struggled to find form and fitness in recent seasons. Although he has struggled since his return to his homeland, his record of 63 goals in 150 games while at Milan is decent.
He is quick, skilful and a very good manipulator of the ball he can also play in several positions, as a target man, or can play anywhere across the front three which would give Olivier Giroud some much needed support up front. It remains to be seen if Wenger decides to raise the offer and land the striker but at £10 m, he could be an incredible bargain IF he manages to get fit and bring his best form to the Premier League, but that remains a big ‘if’. It would be great if we can get an established striker such as Benzema or Suarez but if that isn’t possible then Pato isn’t a bad option either.
Should we go for Pato in January? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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