It’s so rare among big clubs in the modern game but this looks like a brilliant piece of business from Chelsea.
The Blues have reportedly procured the services of former Golden Boy winner Alexandre Pato on a six-month loan deal from Brazilian outfit Corinthians.
And while Pato has certainly come off the boil since the days when he was being pegged as the next prodigious talent to come out of Brazil, Chelsea aren’t exactly taking a massive risk on him when you look at the wages he’s reportedly on.
ESPN Brazil claim to be privy to the wage bill at Stamford Bridge and, if true, it will astound you to learn that the striker will be earning less than Chelsea are paying Victor Moses, who is currently on loan at West Ham.
Pato, 26, will earn £133,000 (€175,000) a month while Moses is on a contract that sees him take home £140,000 (€184,000).
In fact, Pato will be in 22nd spot in terms of earners at Chelsea and he won’t thank us for pointing out that Eden Hazard, Chelsea’s highest earner, gets significantly more in a week (£200,000/€263,000) than Pato makes in a month.
Asmir Begovic, Baba Rahman and Ramires all receive a higher monthly wage than Pato so even if he does flop in England, at least Roman Abramovich won’t be too out of pocket.