Chelsea FC Transfer Rumours: Alexandre Pato Not Interested In Move

Surprise surprise! The annual rumour that Chelsea are after Alexandre Pato (and really, who wouldn't be?) has surfaced once more and just as quickly been shot down by the man himself, who says that he'd quite like to stay with AC Milan for a few more years, that you very much.

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.

-Alexandre Pato. Source: Il Corriere dello Sport via ESPN Soccernet.

It's funny how we get linked to Pato every year without fail - and he's a very good player so I can see why Chelsea would theoretically be interested. But with the Blues' glut of strikers (and pursuit of Romelu Lukaku) to boot, there's very little motivation for them to go out and spend huge money on the 21-year-old, and there's even less for Pato to come to Chelsea. Sure, he can play wide right, but he's nowhere near as effective there as he is at pure centre forward, which means he gets to compete with Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba for playing time. No matter how naturally competitive footballers might be, that's a compelling scenario for absolutely nobody.

If I got to build a roster completely from scratch, Alexandre Pato could well be one of the names on it. But unless some sort of black magic happens, I'd be shocked to see him make a move to Chelsea... well, ever. Even after 2014.