Chelsea Transfer News: Pato, Neymar, Pastore and Lukaku in Today's Press
Chelsea are weighing up a £30m cash-plus-player deal for AC Milan striker Pato, according to reports this morning.
The Daily Mirror suggests the Blues are interested in the Brazil international, with Andre Villas-Boas unconvinced by Fernando Torres's pre-season form. The new manager has identified Pato as the strike-partner to bring the best out of Chelsea's record £50m purchase.
However, the Brazilian has moved to cool speculation linking him with a move away from Italy, telling ESPN Soccer, "I have a contract with Milan until the summer of 2014 and I want to respect that. I want to stay at least until then. We'll have to wait and see what happens from there on."
Pato scored 14 times in 25 appearances for the Serie A side last season but subsequently lost his place in the Brazil first XI to Santos striker Neymar.
The highly-rated teenager has been linked with a number of Europe's top clubs - including Chelsea - this summer and former Brazil legend Pele believes the 19-year-old has the potential to become one of the best players in the world.
"I think it is very difficult to keep him in Brazil," Pele told Press Association Sport. "Santos is my [former] team and he started there with us. I hope he stays there until more or less the 2014 World Cup but it will be a little difficult to keep him here.
"He is a good player, there's no doubt. He will be like a Kaka, a Messi - of that there is no doubt. Or a Ronaldo, a Zico, a Pele.
"He is an excellent player. I hope that he does [reach his potential]."
Villas-Boas is keen to bring in an additional striker before the end of August, with Chelsea having had two bids rejected earlier in the summer for Anderlecht forward Romelu Lukaku.
The highly-rated 18-year-old has set his sights on a move away from Belgium but refused to be drawn on reports he was ready to sign for Chelsea.
"The negotiations with Chelsea are always on-going, but perhaps I have made a mistake with some of my words in the media when I've talked about only wanting to play for Chelsea. Actually, my dream is to play for a top club European and I do not care whether they are from England, Spain, Italy or Germany."
Meanwhile, Chelsea have missed out on signing Palermo midfielder Javier Pastore, after the Argentine announced his intention to join Paris Saint-Germain.
Pastore had been heavily linked with a Stamford Bridge move all summer but PSG were the only club to submit a formal offer for the 23-year-old.
"You can officially say that I will be a Paris Saint-Germain player, although I still need to do the medical and review some details," Pastore posted on his official website.
The Qatar Investment Authority recently bought a controlling stake in the French side and have been linked with a host of top European players over the summer.
"I want to be a part of Paris Saint-Germain, which is a great club with a great history," Pastore added.
"Marcelo [Simonian, his agent] and I were talking about this. I care very much about the sporting project, that is why. I talk about it a lot.
"I am very eager to begin this new phase. They explained the project and immediately seduced me to the challenge.
"Winning the league and the cup - I want the team to success in everything. In particular I will give my best in every game. It makes me immensely happy that they trusted me."
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