5 Of the most famous players to move to the Chinese Super League

#5 Alexandre Pato

After struggling in Europe, Alexandre Pato moved to China with Tianjin Quanjian

Once considered one of the most exciting prospects in world football, Alexandre Pato became a huge star at the turn of the last decade as one of AC Milan’s key attackers, but a series of injuries curtailed his development, and by 2013, he’d returned to Brazil with Corinthians. The move didn’t really work out, and moves to Chelsea and Villarreal didn’t see him fare much better.

Still just 27 years old, Pato appeared to be done at the top level – and so his move to the Chinese Super League with Tianjin Quanjian in January 2017 didn’t really come as a surprise. The club paid £15.5m for his services, but to say the start of his career in China didn’t quite work out would be an understatement.

The Brazilian forward missed a penalty in his second match for the club, a 1-1 draw with Shanghai Shenhua, denying Quanjian their first-ever Super League title. Following that though, his form did improve somewhat, and while he won no trophies, he ended up scoring 36 goals in 60 appearances for the club, before heading home in 2019 to join Sao Paulo.