Why Pato China switch is good news for Chelsea

28 gen 2017

Former Chelsea and AC Milan striker Pato is close to joining Fabio Cannavaro’s Tianjin Quanjian in China. The Chinese Super league side have already completed the signing of Belgian midfielder Axel Witsel in the current transfer window and representatives of the club have been travelling around Europe for the last month, looking for a new striker to take to China.

Tianjin Quanjian made offers for both Chelsea’s Diego Costa and Fiorentina’s Nikola Kalinic. The Spanish Blues’ striker was reported to be persuaded by the offer coming from the Far East but Chelsea boss Antonio Conte blocked the striker’s exit. Kalinic, on the other hand, did not accept the offer of the Chinese club and decided to stay at Fiorentina until the end of the season.

Fabio Cannavaro has then decided to make a move for Villareal striker Pato and Tianjin Quanjian seem to have finally ended their pursuit of a new striker as the Brazilian is just a few signing away from joining his new club. If Pato joins Tianjin Quanjian, the Chinese club will definitely retire from race to sign both Diego Costa and Kalinic.

Villareal boss Escriba has confirmed that Pato is close to leaving the club. “We’ve received a very interesting offer and we can run no risks”, he told Spanish media yesterday. “We’ve analyzed the situation and Pato will be omitted from tomorrow’s [today] league game.”