He said: "In these months everyone at Milan admired Pato and backed his arrival, starting from President Silvio Berlusconi. In fact, I was surprised by how decisive he was on this matter from the first moment we discussed it. Knowing his intuition, I had to follow it through.

"Now we are proud to have the best player in the world, Kaka, and a potential champion in Pato. We will follow him with the right level of attention. It is better that he arrives in September so that he can acclimatise without pressure."

Meanwhile, Inter coach Roberto Mancini revealed: "We were after Pato for almost two years, but at the end of the day players make their decisions and we cannot bring in everyone.

"Pato is an immense talent and I am convinced he will become a great champion."