A consortium including former AC Milan, Chelsea and Brazil forward Alexandre Pato is set to buy a majority stake in League Two club Northampton Town, BBC Sport understands.

Sports Alpha Capital was in discussions about taking over Colchester United earlier this year but decided to pull out of a potential deal following initial talks.

It is understood Pato is involved with the consortium but is not fronting it.

The 36-year-old retired from playing last year. He is best known for his five-and-a-half-year spell at AC Milan where he scored 63 goals in 150 matches and won the Serie A title in the 2010-11 season.

He spent the second half of the 2015-16 season on loan at Chelsea from Corinthians and scored on his debut from the penalty spot in a 4-0 win at Aston Villa.

The news comes after Northampton chairman Kelvin Thomas confirmed last month that a "well-funded" group's proposed investment had been "pretty much agreed".

The Cobblers suffered relegation to the fourth tier last season, finishing bottom of the League One table.

In April, the club announced a pre-tax loss just short of £3m with Thomas previously saying that the proposed investment would make the club debt-free.

Northampton appointed Chris Hogg as their manager in May and have so far brought in seven new players in the transfer window, including striker Matty Warhurst from Manchester City and midfielder Connor Lemonheigh-Evans from MK Dons.