''Its an honour to be liked by a club like Chelsea. With respect to my future, nothing has been decided yet. I will speak to Ancelotti. He is an extraordinary man. Its thanks to Ancelotti that I have been able to emerge at AC Milan and in Italian football. Before I decide my future, I want to talk to him. - Alexandre Pato, June 2009.
Managers can be ruthless sometimes. When Jose Mourinho left Chelsea, he bid farewell with endless kisses and serenades to his beloved Blues support - before returning in an attempt to pick apart the carcass of his side, trying to drag the likes of Didier Drogba, Ricardo Carvalho and Frank Lampard to the San Siro. Similarly, when Carlo Ancelotti arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2009, he immediately cast a beady eye over his former club, in a bid to lure the finest Rossoneri talent to west London. For his own sake, he will be relieved that he failed in his bid for 19 year old Brazilian starlet Alexandre Pato. A protege of the former Milan coach, Ancelotti was immediately linked with a £51 million bid for the teenager who had netted 24 goals in 54 games for the club.
''Milan this year has resisted a monumental offer for Pato. But I will not say which club made the offer. AC Milan chief executive, Adriano Galliani, June 2009.
The Ducks career has been plagued by injuries in recent years, with the 2009 Serie A Young Footballer of the Year managing a combined total of just 15 league appearances in his final two seasons at Milan, before returning to Brazil, where he has tried in vain to reignite a flailing career. As he sat at home watching the World Cup on TV, a tournament which he would have earmarked years ago as one where he would have announced himself as the worlds most lethal striker on home soil, he must have buried his head in his hands, and wondered - would things have been better under Carlo at Stamford Bridge?
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
