Alexandre Pato has indicated that he is close to joining a new club as talk builds suggesting he may move to Birmingham City.

Reports from Italy have claimed that Blues are rivalling several Italian clubs for the 31-year-old, who is a free agent having last featured for Sao Paulo.

And, a tweet from the forward this afternoon suggested that he is close to moving somewhere as he shared an image of his football boots with the caption 'soon', along with a handshake, implying a deal has been struck.

Of course, we don't know yet whether Blues have won the race for the former Brazil international but it's clear that they need more firepower after an underwhelming start to the season under Aitor Karanka.

The team are 17th in the Championship ahead of tonight's game with Huddersfield and they have managed just three goals in seven fixtures so far. Worryingly, they are yet to score in open play either, with one penalty and two efforts from corners making up that tally.

As Pato is out of contract, there is no deadline as to when a deal needs to be finalised.

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The verdict

This rumour came out of nowhere last night and it's certainly one that will be attracting attention as you don't get many ex-Brazilian internationals dropping to the Championship.

From his post, Pato clearly has a move lined up and it's just a case of waiting and seeing when a deal is announced.

Blues' need for attacking reinforcements is obvious but whether Pato can make a difference at this level would be debatable but I'm sure every neutral and Blues fan would like to see it happen.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.