Football fans who have been following the game for the past few years might not be familiar with Alexandre Pato, but those who knew the player during his time at Milan have seen how special he was. Alexandre Pato was one of the most talented young strikers in football during his time at Milan, and many believed the sky was limit for him. It was not a question of would he succeed but a question of how much would he succeed, such was the exquisite talent that the Brazilian possessed. Unfortunately for the player, he also ended up one of those unfortunate cases in football history where a player simply failed to reach the massive potential they had. Let us look at Alexandre Pato's time at Milan, and how a promising career eventually went downhill.
A promising beginning to life at Milan
After a brilliant season at Internacional as a youth player, Alexandre Pato was signed by AC Milan for a €24 million transfer fee on 2 August 2007. Due to FIFA football regulations regarding non-EU minors, Pato's transfer was only made official On 4th January 2008.
His first goal for Milan came against Napoli in a 5-2 thrashing that saw the Rossoneri emerge victorious. The same month saw him score a brace as well in Milan's 2-0 victory over Genoa. Pato finished his first season at Milan with 9 goals in 20 appearances.
The months that followed saw the rise of Pato at Milan, as the Brazilian kept on scoring crucial goals for the club. His magnificent form saw him hitting six goals in four games, including a game winning strike against Fiorentina. Pato's goal scoring exploits continued that whole season and he finished as the club's top scorer with 18 goals in the 2008-09 season.
Pato's excellence at Milan continued, and the 2009–10 season saw one of his finest performances as well in the Champions League. The player scored two second-half goals in a 3–2 win against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, a dream performance for any player in the game. He was also awarded the 2009 Serie A Young Footballer of the Year at this time.
This was followed by Pato returning to the Milan side after a minor injury setback, and he scored a goal in each of Milan's next three games against Udinese, Bari and Fiorentina. His fine form continued, but an unfortunate hamstring injury saw him miss crucial games against Roma and Manchester United.
The season ended in disaster for Pato, as his return was yet again cut short after suffering the same muscle injury. He finished that season with just 20 appearances.
The downfall
The constant injury issues of the previous season were the beginning of the end for Pato's rise as an elite footballer. Despite having all the talent in the world and scoring whenever he played, Pato started to get injured very frequently. After a string of great performances for Milan, Pato injured his hamstring for the third time in less than a year. This injury ruled him out for six weeks.
Alexandre Pato's remaining time at Milan was a repeat of what's mentioned above, as he kept on giving crucial performances for the team but injuries were never kind to him. The injuries however kept on getting worse, and it reached to a stage where his contributions to Milan were getting drastically affected as well.
A promising career that began with so much expectations at Milan came to a nightmare end. Due to his poor performances throughout the 2011–12 season, Pato was awarded the 2012 Bidone d'oro, a satirical prize, which is given to the worst Serie A player during a particular season. That was also the end of Pato at Milan, as the player was eventually sold to Corinthians for a fee of €15 million.
Alexandre Pato's career is yet another unfortunate case of "What ifs" In football, and no one will ultimately get to know how much the Brazilian would've grown as a player if not for the devastating injuries.
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