COMMENT: This loan is no shop window for Alexandre Pato. If he can't make it work at Chelsea, we won't see the Brazilian again in the Premier League.
That last minute hitch in negotiations with Corinthians had nothing to do with his loan fee. Nor was it Guus Hiddink having second thoughts. The delay was due to an 'anti-Premier League' clause that Corinthians were demanding Chelsea agree to.
To sign off on the deal, Corinthians insisted Chelsea include a clause which stated if they failed to take up the option to sign Pato permanently at the end of this season, the Brazilian could not appear for another Premier League club before 2020.
Chelsea protested, believing Pato would arrive already on the back foot. But the striker and his agent, Gilmar Veloz, took the decision out of Chelsea's hands - agreeing to Corinthians' demands. For Chelsea, Pato is all in.
He'd already rejected a far bigger contract offer from Tianjin Quanjian - £10 million-a-year - to keep himself available to Premier League clubs this month. And now, with this clause, he's made it Chelsea or bust.
This loan is no chance to prove himself to other Premier League managers. This is no stepping stone or shop window. If it doesn't happen for him over the next six months, he's out. Not just from Chelsea, but from English football. Pato has to make this work.
Tite reckons he can. The Corinthians boss has just led the club to the Brasileiro title and had hopes of including Pato, back after a two-year loan at Sao Paulo, in his new season squad.
"I'm backing Pato for success," says Tite, for many the best coach in Brazilian football.
"He can take that final step at Chelsea.
"Working with Chelsea's players, he's capable of a leap in quality and can develop his full potential."
In the last day, former Chelsea coach Ray Wilkins has made headlines in Brazil branding Pato "chubby". Harry Redknapp says he can't understand why Chelsea are signing the 26 year-old, admitting he'd rejected the same opportunity at QPR, convinced the ex-AC Milan wonderkid had "faded away" into obscurity.
It's frustrating, but this is what you're going to get from pundits. Rather than admit, 'I haven't seen a lot of Brazilian football, so I'm not qualified to judge the lad', we get 'I haven't seen a lot of Brazilian football, so I'm going to write him off...'
Pato's numbers with Sao Paulo have been impressive - 26 goals just last season. Enough for his loan club to attempt to sign him permanently. But Corinthians' £11.5 million asking price was just too rich. That wasn't the case for Tianjin Quanjian. But Pato didn't fancy the C-League - the same competition that Blues hero Ramires has just run to.
Corinthians aren't looking to simply clear Pato's wages off the books. He's tied to the end of the year and they want to do business. Their asking price proof enough of how much they rate their asset.
Almost nine years ago, AC Milan signed potential. Today, Chelsea are getting a hardened, seasoned pro with an impressive, if not earth shattering, record.
"He's now at the stage of his career where he knows when to make the right decisions in games," says Tite.
"After seeing him with us in preseason, I was hoping he could translate his training form into our game. But now, hopefully he can do that with Chelsea."
At this stage, we'll take Tite's opinion over any ex-player who has 'fading' memories of the could-have-been at Milan.
