(REUTERS)Manuel MezaFri, February 6, 2026 at 1:21 AM UTC·1 min readVery active during every transfer window, Paris Saint-Germain has not been idle in its recruitment, especially as it has spent large sums since the club's purchase by Qatar 15 years ago.
Moreover, in January 2012, a famous player was set to arrive from Italy, but his transfer to PSG fell through at the last minute, and he wanted to set the record straight on this matter.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSince PSG's purchase by Qatar in 2011, many stars have been recruited over the years by the Ile-de-France club: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Lionel Messi... Big names have succeeded each other at the Parc des Princes.
Just a few months after the beginning of this QSI era at PSG, in January 2012, a renowned Brazilian striker came within a whisker of making a grand arrival at the club from AC Milan. A deal that made a lot of noise at the time: Alexandre Pato.
Alexandre Pato: "I Wanted to Go to PSG"The transfer of the Brazilian international to PSG seemed completely sealed, but everything fell apart at the last minute. And in an interview for The Players Tribune in 2022, Alexandre Pato unburdened himself about this PSG matter and the aborted deal.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"I should have told everyone the truth. Do you remember the PSG story? Galliani (vice-president of AC Milan) was in England to get Carlos Tevez, and PSG made me an incredible offer. I wanted to leave – Carlo Ancelotti was there at PSG – but Silvio (Berlusconi) told me to stay. I was injured, so the fans said: 'Ooohh, Pato didn't want to leave! With Carlos Tevez, we would be champions!' The press went crazy. Me, I was like: 'What? I wanted to go to PSG!' I didn't play in the 2010 World Cup," said the former Brazilian striker, retired from the pitch since 2024.
"I Was Destroyed"And Alexandre Pato admits he had great difficulty recovering from his failed transfer to PSG at that time: "The PSG story happened in January 2012. I was barely playing anymore. Mentally, I was destroyed. I was the big flop, the guy with a lot of money, the guy even the fans wanted to see leave," he concluded.
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