Birmingham City's free agent saga for ex-AC Milan Golden Boy remains a bizarre tale | OneFootball

Landing the 27-cap Brazil forward could have been some coup for the Blues

Birmingham City were sensationally linked with AC Milan star Alexandre Pato in 2020.

The report came from Italian outlet Calcio Mercato, who claimed that the then-Championship side were considering a move for the striker.

In the end, Pato remained a free agent until February of the next year, when he pitched up in the MLS.

Although the move never came to fruition, Blues fans will likely always wonder what might have been.

Alexandre Pato’s link to Birmingham City shocked the footballing world

It wasn’t as though Pato had much of a track record, or even recent history, in England.

His impact on these shores is reduced to one loan spell with Chelsea, where he turned out just twice in the 2015/16 season, netting one goal.

He may have fitted right in in the blue half of Birmingham though: his one goal came in a 4-0 demolition of Aston Villa.

The West Midlands side were 17th in the Championship when the links emerged in October 2020 – whether Pato could have been the man to correct that form will forever remain a mystery, but given the Blues finished 18th that season, it’s hard to see how he could have made it much worse.

Alexandre Pato managed to find a space at a good level in the MLS

The Brazilian had been a free agent after leaving Sao Paulo the previous August, and had interest from Italian outfits Monza, Genoa and Spezia.

Switching from Brazilian to the bottom half of England’s second tier, aged 31, may seem like a man short of options, but that wasn’t the case at all with Pato.

After considering offers from Italy – where he made his name with AC Milan – and Birmingham, Pato ended up signing for Orlando City in the MLS.

Although the league has been seen as something of a retirement home in the past, they boasted stars like Nani in their squad at that time, and have strong brand recognition outside of their own country.

Having had choices ranging from the US, to Italy and then St. Andrew’s is an eclectic mix, which makes Birmingham’s close run-in with the deal even more bizarre.

The Birmingham City of today would likely be all over the deal

This link came a few years before American businessman Tom Wagner’s takeover of the Blues, but it’s the sort of deal you can imagine Wagner’s Birmingham being all over.

He is keen to build the brand of the club, which led to – somewhat controversial – conversations in 2024 from Birmingham’s side about holding their upcoming League One game with Wrexham Stateside, which would have been a first for English football.

The move was rejected by the league, but it’s not a stretch to imagine Wagner being keen on attracting a player with as much global reach as Pato, who would offer as much commercially as he may have done on the pitch.

Now 35 years old and having been away from the game for over a year, it seems unlikely Pato and Birmingham will reconnect, but with fresh money behind them, there’s no saying the Blues won’t be back in when the next Pato comes along.