Sao Paulo have let both Manchester United and Arsenal know that Brazilian international striker Alexandre Pato is available in January for as little as £18.5 million.
When he first burst onto the scene at Internacional as a 16-year-old, Pato was being hailed as the next big thing to come out of Brazil when he moved to play in Italy for AC Milan in 2010.
Yet during his three-year stay at the San Siro he never lived up to all the hype spending much of his time out injured before finally returning to Brazil were he signed for Corinthians before moving to his current club Sao Paulo in February of 2014.
Pato was being linked as a last minute striker option for both Arsenal and Manchester United at the end of the summer, but a deal never materialized for the 26-year-old, who we now understand will be made available in January for the right price after Sao Paulo director of football Eduardo Ferreira said the Premiership teams could have him for £18.5 million.
‘At the moment there are only enquiries,’ Ferreira told Globo Esporte.
‘But if a club comes in with an offer of €25m (18.5m), we will let him go, otherwise he will return in January.