Sadly for Arsenal, they’re not so frightened any more

AC Milan are the owners of Pato, the latest Brazilian wonderchild playing in Europe (although not the latest wonderchild playing in Brazil - he’s called Neymar, is 16, and has a sell-on clause in his contract of just 85 million euros). Not so long ago, Milan were so scared that Arsene Wenger, with his all-seeing eye and talent for luring youngsters, was about to come round with the sweeties that - well let’s have the Mail tell the story…

“Having overcome 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 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.”

It may be a little unconventional to keep your child stars locked in a basement and only allow them out at night, but on this occasion it seems to have worked. And it is testament to Mr Wenger’s recruiting skills that one of Europe’s most powerful clubs was reduced to such paranoid measures to hang on to their talent. But perhaps there’s more than a little truth in the rumour that Arsene Wenger is thinking of buying an airship…