Alexandre Pato has claimed that Manchester United made an attractive offer to sign him on transfer deadline day, but the Brazilian striker says that he only found out about the move when it was too late to complete it.

The former AC Milan forward, who is now on loan at Sao Paulo in his homeland from fellow Brazilian club Corinthians, was linked with clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur throughout the summer.

However, he has claimed that it was United who made a late move to bring him back to European football despite Louis van Gaal's side having signed Anthony Martial earlier on deadline day.

"I won't lie, two hours before closing [the transfer window] I had a very nice offer from Manchester United," he told SporTV.

"I was expecting it, but I actually only found out about it afterwards. I cannot stop thinking of my future, but my focus is Sao Paulo. I would really like to stay, but that doesn't depend only on me."

Pato scored 63 goals in 150 games for Milan between 2007 and 2012 before returning to his homeland.