After the furore of loaning Daryl Dike to Barnsley, the next huge Orlando City SC headline has just taken place with the Lions announcing the signing of Alexandre Pato.
A free agent, the 31-year-old former Brazil international arrives at Exploria Stadium on a one-year deal after terminating his contract with São Paulo in August 2020.
🦆 𝙄𝙏'𝙎 𝙊𝙁𝙁𝙄𝘾𝙄𝘼𝙇 🦆@Pato is a Lion. #VamosOrlando
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) February 13, 2021
Previously one of the world’s hottest prospects, Alexandre Pato won’t occupy a Designated Player slot at Orlando City SC.
>> CLICK HERE TO VIEW ALEXANDRE PATO’S PLAYER PROFILE <<
A signing nobody saw coming until recently, journalist César Luis Merlo first broke news about the move on February 8.
Following this, Orlando City SC teased supporters about Alexandre Pato‘s arrival with two cryptic tweets yesterday.
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) February 12, 2021
Spotted in Orlando today 🦆 pic.twitter.com/QvonuR60ic
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) February 12, 2021
Alexandre Pato is nicknamed “the Duck” because he was born in Pato Branco, Brazil, and “Pato” means “Duck” in Portuguese.
NEW SIGNING 🚨 | @Pato joins @OrlandoCitySC! 💜🦁💛
⚽ ST
📅 2 September 1989 (31)
🇧🇷 Brazil
⬆️ 5 ft 11 in
⚽️ Free Agent ➡️ @OrlandoCitySC 🇺🇸
👕 Jersey (TBC)VIEW PLAYER PROFILE 📕: https://t.co/d9UBXouzqN#OCTwitter #OrlandoCity #MLSUK pic.twitter.com/GEr55r9MS3
— Orlando City UK (@Orlando_CityUK) February 13, 2021
Who is Alexandre Pato?
Alexandre Pato will bring huge experience to Oscar Pareja‘s roster having represented seven different clubs over a 15-year professional career.
He first burst onto the scene as a teenager at Internacional in his Brazilian homeland back in 2006.
Earning him a coveted early move to Europe, Pato set the world alight at AC Milan. He departed Italy having struck 51 goals in 117 Serie A appearances.
He later made just two appearances on loan at Chelsea in 2016, scoring once.
Alexandre Pato‘s most recent career high was a three-year association with Chinese club Tianjin Tianhai between 2017 and 2019.
The Brazilian scored 30 goals in 47 domestic appearances for the Chinese Super League outfit.
Orlando City SC supporters will hope he can recapture this prolific goalscoring form at Exploria Stadium this forthcoming MLS campaign.
The fans’ view
With #OCTwitter currently reacting to Alexandre Pato‘s announcement as an Orlando City SC player, we gathered the best tweets following his arrival.
This week on Ruckus’ #BadPhotoshops …
ALEXANDRE PATO 🔥 #WelcomePato #WeThink #WeHope pic.twitter.com/x5Zu0jyTMt
— RUCKUS. (@RuckusOrlando) February 12, 2021
So a duck, a badger, a bear, and an octopus walk into a bar…💜 https://t.co/hnLwhv0UnN
— Alex Reiter (@ghost_reiter) February 13, 2021
We are gathering all the creatures..Octopus, Bear and now a Duck!
— Kay Rawlins (@Kay_Rawlins) February 13, 2021
We’re just gonna start calling the stadium ‘Orlando Zoo’ honestly
Lions 🦁
Bears 🐻
Octopus 🐙
Ducks 🦆
Swans 🦢 if you recall our Pride friends pic.twitter.com/u76g6BYlku— RUCKUS. (@RuckusOrlando) February 13, 2021
— Northern Ireland Orlando City Fan (@OrlandoFanNI) February 12, 2021
☀️☀️ pic.twitter.com/2UpBFKOQ7s
— Orlando International Airport (@MCO) February 13, 2021
If he’s a non-DP I think it’s a decent move (he did however not do great at Sao Paulo averaging about a goal every 4 games so I wouldn’t get our hopes up), if it’d a DP however I think we could do better especially without a desperate need for an attacking player.
— Adzter (@Adzter961) February 12, 2021
The last time corinthians fans told us a new player sucked, he became a top level MLS player
— Derek (@Lions0607) February 13, 2021
Welcome to Orlando, Alexandre!
On behalf of Orlando City UK, we wish Alexandre Pato the very best of luck as he embarks on his latest chapter in Central Florida.
You can follow the forward on his own personal Instagram and Twitter accounts too.
Elsewhere, Alexandre Pato will wear his favoured jersey number 7 at Orlando City SC.
As expected, new signing @Pato takes jersey number 7️⃣ at @OrlandoCitySC. 🦆🇧🇷⚽️
The number was last worn by longtime 🦁 @CristianHiguit2. 🇨🇴#OCTwitter #OrlandoCity #MLSUK pic.twitter.com/lM0JYgbHi1
— Orlando City UK (@Orlando_CityUK) February 13, 2021