Pato discusses San Siro return and how Leao can ‘take Milan to the top’ | OneFootball

Alexandre Pato recently returned to AC Milan as part of the 125th anniversary celebration and today, the striker has spoken about how it felt to return.

Pato’s time at Milan was iconic for many, and there is a distinct what-if feeling about his time at the club. The way he burst onto the scene was special, and he had all the marks to be a footballing great but it never turned out that way.

Today, he spoke to Gianluca Gazzoli on the BSMT podcast, via Milan News, and he looked back at his time at the club.

On returning to Milanello after 11 years…

“As I was going I remembered all the places. ‘I used to go this way’, ‘I used to go that way’. I used to run with the car, I used to compete with Emerson, the Puma, the one who played for Roma, whoever got to Milanello first with the car. Then Galliani called my agent and told him to ask me to stop racing.

“I remembered everything. The streets, all the parts of Milanello. Then I met the lady who worked when I was there, who went to the room, left everything in place. The cook, the people who work there. I said to them, ‘I’d like to cry, but I can’t because there’s the room looking at me and making fun of me. But it was beautiful.

“I was young, I grew up there, so everything I experience in Milan makes me shiver.”

Did you find anything different at Milanello?

“Yes, some things do. Inside the locker room especially, something more. Then in the car park. There’s a little something, but for me it’s always the same.”

On returning to the San Siro…

“They let me into the pitch, you feel like crying. Then the fans shouting at you, asking you for a photo. Then having my parents beside me, because they stayed a month with me and then left. Then they came back with me after 12 years at the San Siro. So you know, it was beautiful for them. Apart from the cold, that they couldn’t feel their feet, but it was beautiful.”

Did you feel like coming in and playing?

“I tell you what. I asked Kaka for advice: ‘Ricky what did you do when you stopped playing?’ He told me: ‘That’s how I’m good’.

“Me, there, now, because sometimes I don’t want to be the one who necessarily wants to return to Milan, but a desire to put on the shirt, get out on the pitch and play…”

Do you think you could get on the pitch and have your say?

“I have to get in shape. The desire is there, let’s see…”

He also looked at the current situation of the Rossoneri, and how it has changed since his playing days, more specifically how there is lack of Brazilian talent within the squad.

How did it feel getting to know the new Milan players?

“Some I only knew through Instagram. Then we got to know each other. I have known Morata for a long time because we spoke when I went to China, he was also due to come, so we talked then. They are all new, but I knew Ruben [Loftus-Cheek] because I played with him at Chelsea. Then the others are all new.”

There are fewer Brazilians…

“I found Emerson alone. When I was there there were eight of us, today there is only one Brazilian. Football is changing, a lot.”

Finally, he touched on Rafael Leao, and how he believes that the Portuguese star can lead the team forward, or at least this is what he hopes.

“Leao is a character. When I arrived at their age I was very small, they are all tall. They are too big, so Leao for me I have always esteemed him, I cheer for him. He has every chance of taking Milan to the top, so I’ll always be there to support him and hopefully he’ll score lots more goals for Milan and make them win.”