Pato: I begged Berlusconi to sell me at AC Milan

Date: 26th June 2017 at 6:07pm
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Continuous injury problems led to Alexandre Pato pleading with AC Milan president Silvio Berlusconi to let him leave, the striker has revealed.

The Brazil international rejected offers from a number of clubs, including Real Madrid, to join the Rossoneri as a 17-year-old.

Despite a promising start to his career in Serie A, muscle issues began to plague Pato, which resulted in him moving back to his homeland with Corinthians in 2013.

“Berlusconi always wanted to keep me. In January 2012, I could have joined Paris Saint-Germain but Barbara [Berlusconi] called me and told me that her father wanted to speak to me while I was having breakfast,” he toldĀ La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“The president told me, ‘don’t go away, you are our symbol’ and I respected his will so I stayed but I kept having physical problems. Although Berlusconi thought I was unsellable, I went to him and convinced him to sell me.

“I told him that it was for my own good because I needed to regain confidence in my own body again. I had to change the way I trained and recovered and at Corinthians, I slowly started to feel better once more.”

Pato is now playing in the lucrative Chinese league with Tianjin Quanjian, which makes him well placed to comment on what the Diavolo’s new owners can bring to the club.

“I don’t know exactly who they are but what I can say is that they have a great passion for football, which exists here,” he said. “They have did their research and are willing to invest. They are already a large economic power and want to continue that in the football world.”

 

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