Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal Could Roll the Dice On Alexandre Pato

By Josh Sippie

By Ronnie Macdonald (Pato & Emmanuel Eboue 2) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
By Ronnie Macdonald (Pato & Emmanuel Eboue 2) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons /
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You know the striker crop is a bit lacking when some of the hottest names being tossed around are Charlie Austin and Alexandre Pato. Nothing against the two, but they are not the high-profile strikers that many fans dream their team will sign on deadline day. Another sign that the striker crop is limited – Manchester United, who need a striker far worse than Arsenal, are in on Anthony Martial and that is it.

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Alexandre Pato is an interesting candidate. Once believed to be the next great talent to come out of Brazil, Pato has since fallen on hard times in terms of injury. Resisting the urge to point out how well that would seem to fit with Arsenal, it has become the sole, debilitating problem for the Brazilian forward.

Despite getting off to a great start to his career, the potential has derailed, as consistent hamstring injuries and various other leg injuries spelled a premature demise for the then-22 year old striker. It does seem a bit hasty to be referring to a ‘demise’ but that was the consensus.

Since returning to his homeland and suiting up for Brazilian side Corinthians as well as current loan side Sao Paolo, Pato has rediscovered goal-scoring to be a rather easy feat. He netted on his first ever touch for Corinthians in a 2013 season that saw him make an astonishing 57 appearances. At Sao Paolo, Pato has made 81 appearances across two years and scored 33 times.

Those are not the numbers of a world beater, but Pato has already proven he can score, all he really needs to do is prove he can stay healthy in order to land a gig on a bigger stage. He has been doing that in the past couple years. While he has indicated a desire to stay at Sao Paolo, a bigger league would have to appeal to him.

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Pato’s transfer speculation hit fever pitch when he had the audacity to follow the official Arsenal twitter account. It is desperation when that is enough to kick up enough dust for a full-blown rumor to start. However, Pato has always been destined for so much more than the Brazilian League and Arsenal could provide him with that. Plus, at just 25 years of age, he has another decade of football left in him, depending on health.

Reports indicate that Tottenham have sent an £8 million bid his way and if that is all it takes, Arsenal have nothing to lose. If he pans out and fulfills his potential, we look like geniuses. If he becomes a viable back-up to Olivier Giroud, we look like geniuses. If he flops, gets hurt or disappears, he only cost £8 million and at least Wenger tried.

Next: Charlie Austin is not 'beneath' Arsenal

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