How Arsenal missed the new Ronaldinho

Italian FA rules meant that as a non-European Community teenager, Pato could not play in Serie A until he turned 18, which left the Brazilian missing the first half of the season.

When he made his full debut just over three weeks ago on 13 January against Napoli, there was huge pressure on his shoulders. Carlo Ancelotti's team hadn't won a home league match between August and December and having disastrously lost the Milan derby were long out of the title race and struggling for Champions League qualification.

Enter Sandy the Duck (as Alexandre Pato translates). Milan won 5-2 and Pato was inspirational, making two and scoring the fifth. In their eight previous home matches Milan had scored only three times.

The striker then scored in an away victory at Genoa plus the only goal in the win at Fiorentina and the praise was in danger of running out of control. "Pato is certainly better than Ronaldinho and Milan won't need to make any moves to Barcelona to sign him now that people have seen what Alex is capable of," beamed Ancelotti after his debut.

"He's literally a phenomenon with startling speed, a powerful shot and that elusive sense of where the goal is that only the top, top strikers have."

Kaka agreed. "He's a great footballer already and also a strong personality," he said. "Alex has a capacity to dribble which very few guys possess but he also has the killer striker instinct of always looking to score himself."

And yet when Milan run out at Emirates Stadium tomorrow night in their last 16 first-leg clash in the Champions League, Pato could have been lining up for Arsenal rather than against them.

Having overcomea malignant cancer aged only 10, Pato was educated in Porto Alegre, the same city as Ronaldinho, and played for Internacional, where he soon appeared on Arsene Wenger's radar.

Milan were so worried that Arsenal were trying to recruit their young star that they first took the drastic step of playing their youth games behind closed doors so that none of Wenger's scouts could watch the youngster. They gave Pato a full professional contract as soon as he turned 17.

In November 2006, he made his senior debut and in one minute and 34 seconds scored his first goal, provided two assists and hit the post in a 4-1 win over Palmeiras. Within a month he scored the winner in the Intercontinental Cup semi final and played a starring role in the defeat of Barcelona in the final. He also hit three in four games for Brazil at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup last year.

Milan old boy Andriy Shevchenko said Pato is in the perfect environment. "I missed more chances at that age but the Milan ethos was perfect for me and it will support Pato's development because they protect their players," said the Chelsea striker.

It may pain Wenger and his scouting team but they are about to discover that young Pato is very, very special indeed.