Pato goes over to the other side
We knew him with a ball at his feet. Now he is showing up in a suit.
Alexandre Pato wants to buy a club. A real one. According to Cope, the former Brazil striker is part of a consortium, Sports Alpha Capital, that is close to taking a controlling stake in Northampton Town. That means League Two, the fourth tier of English football.
Club chairman Kelvin Thomas has confirmed the direction of travel. An offer from a “well funded” group is said to be on the verge of acceptance.
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A switch that fits the times
Retired from playing since 2023, Pato is turning a page. No more AC Milan, Chelsea, Villarreal or Sao Paulo. It is the office now, the balance sheet, the boardroom calls.
He is far from the first. David Beckham blazed the trail with Inter Miami. Other former players have followed, tempted by the chance to build rather than play. English football, all the way down the divisions, keeps pulling in investors from around the world.
A project to build
Northampton are coming off a season to forget, relegated to League Two. A modest starting point, and one that leaves plenty of rebuilding to do, almost from scratch.
If the deal gets done, Pato will be one of its faces. The next step is turning interest into signatures. Until that is sealed, caution still applies.
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