Javier Pastore

At 34 years old, Javier Pastore has this physical status:

Javier Matas Pastore (Spanish pronunciation: [xaje mati]; born in 1990) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Elche's La Liga team.

Pastore began his club career with Talleres and then Huracán in his native Argentina before moving to Serie A Palermo in 2009 for a reported transfer fee of €4.7 million. In 2011, French side Paris Saint-Germain bought him for €39.8 million. Before joining Roma in 2018, he won numerous domestic accolades with the club, including five Ligue 1 titles.

Pastore made his international debut in 2010 and has since gone on to make over 20 appearances for his country. He appeared in the 2010 FIFA World Cup and three editions of the Copa América, winning consecutive finals of the latter competition in 2015 and 2016.

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Club career

Pastore was born in Córdoba by an Italian-Argentine family, who immigrated from Volvera, Turin. He began his career in the youth program of Argentina's Talleres and gradually progressed to the first team. He made his debut in Argentina's second division under the leadership of Ricardo Gareca. He only managed to play five games in 2007.

Pastore was loaned to Huracán of Argentina's Primera during the 2008 season. In a 1–0 loss at River Plate on May 24, 2008, he made his professional debut for Huracán. He established himself as a regular first-team player for the club under the care of ngel Cappa. This was his breakthrough tournament, where his team barely missed out on the championship championship. His result against River Plate was lauded as he opened the scoring with a 25-yard shot and then scored again for Huracán's first victory over River Plate in over 60 years. He was the team's top scorer with seven goals and three assists on the season. Matas De Federico, a pastor and teammate, was instrumental in Huracán's victory challenge this season.

Palermo officially confirmed the signing of Pastore for five years until June 30, 2014, with the transfer fee listed at around €4.7 million. The player had been linked to a number of other top European clubs, including Manchester United, Porto, Milan, and Chelsea, prior to his move to Palermo.

Pastore's debut in the Coppa Italia was on August 15, but his debut in Serie A came eight days later. He had his breakthrough game against Juventus on October 4th, when he helped Edinson Cavani's goal in a 2–0 victory and appeared in all the websites and national newspapers. In a 2–4 away loss to Bari on January 30, he scored his first Serie A goal. Pastore played mainly as a second-half replacement under head coaches Walter Zenga and, later, Delio Rossi, in his first season at Palermo.

Pastore developed himself as a regular under Rossi's tutelage, appearing briefly in Fabrizio Miccoli and Edinson Cavani's regular striking pair. Palermo finished the season in fifth place, qualifying for the UEFA Europa League, thanks to his efforts, all lauded by fans and pundits. Pastore scored his first hat-trick in a derby match against Catania on November 14th. On the 30th of July 2011, Palermo club president Maurizio Zamparini revealed that a fee had been agreed upon in connection with Javier Pastore's transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.

The signing of Pastore is being sued by Paris Saint-Germain on August 6, 2011. The transfer fee was €39.8 million. Palermo said the club received only €22.8 million of the total fee, owing to third-party ownership by his agent Marcelo Simonian, who would not know if it contained agent fee or not).

Despite the Italian Football Federation (FIGC)'s ruling against any Italian club from signing any joint deal with third parties, Palermo club president Maurizio Zamparini had started a court hearing over the issue, which Zamparini admitted risked a punishment for himself.

In a Ligue 1 match against Stade Brestois that was 1–0 win on September 11, 2011, Pastore scored his first goal in a Ligue 1 match against Stade Brestois.

Pastore scored 13 goals in 33 league games during his first season with the Parc des Princes. Pastore appeared in 34 league matches as PSG defeated the first of four consecutive Ligue 1 titles this year. In a 4–1 victory over FC Dynamo Kyiv on September 18, he scored his first UEFA Champions League goal.

Pastore made over 50 appearances and was named in the UNFP team of the season as PSG defeated PSG in an unprecedented domestic quadruple of Ligue 1, Coupe de la Ligue, and Trophée des Champions.

Pastore inherited the number 10 shirt from the former Zlatan Ibrahimovi's departure, switching from the number 27 shirt to the number 27 shirt ahead of the 2016-17 season. He missed a substantial portion of the season due to injuries, but returned to the PSG starting lineup for Le Classique against opponents Olympique de Marseille, where he helped Edinson Cavani win 5–1 away on February 26, 2017. He appeared as a substitute and scored the opening goal before helping Cavani to beat Ligue 2 club Chamois Niortias 2–0 to progress to the quarter-final stage of the 2016–17 Coupe de France. Pastore helped PSG's goals by crossing the ball to the scorers Adrien Rabiot and Julian Draxler in their 2-1 Ligue 1 home victory over Olympique Lyonnais on March 19, 2017.

Pastore was named as a 72nd-minute replacement for Julian Draxler after PSG defeated Angers 11-0 in the 2017 Coupe de France Final on May 17th.

He vacated his number 10 jersey to new signing Neymar as a welcome gift and reclaimed his number 27 jersey before the next season.

On May 8, 2018, he came off the bench as PSG defeated Les Herbiers VF 2–0 to clinch the 2017-18 Coupe de France.

Pastore and the Italian side Roma from Paris Saint-Germain agreed to a five-year deal on June 26, 2018 for a reported fee of €24.7 million. He was given the number 27 shirt. In Serie A, he made his club debut in a 1–0 away win over Torino. On August 27th, he scored his first goal for the club in the second minute of play against Atalanta in the league, with a back-heeled goal.

He mutually ended his employment with Roma on August 30, 2021.

Pastore signed La Liga's Elche on a one-year deal on September 4, 2021.

International career

Argentina head coach Diego Maradona called up Pastore for an unofficial friendly match against the Catalonia "national" team on December 22, 2009, after a string of good performances in his first season in Serie A. Pastore made his debut as a second-half replacement, with a goal in the process. However, Pastore did not receive a cap because the match was not a FIFA-recognized representative game.

Pastore was later called up by Maradona for a friendly game against Germany but did not turn up. His official debut against Canada was against Canada on May 25, 2010, and he was then called to Maradona's Argentina's 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He made his FIFA World Cup debut against Greece in the 77th minute against Greece on June 22nd, replacing Sergio Agüero. Argentina won the match 2–0. In the 87th minute, he was called back to Mexico, this time replacing Maxi Rodrez. Argentina won the match 3–1.

Pastore was included in Argentina's 23-man team for the 2011 Copa América on home soil by coach Sergio Batista. In the quarter-finals, Argentina was eliminated on penalties by eventual champions Uruguay.

In a 2–1 friendly victory over Ecuador at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday, Pastore scored his first senior international goal. Pastore was selected by coach Gerardo Martino for the 2015 Copa América, and he took part in the team's inaugural match against Paraguay in La Serena later this year. Argentina defeated Paraguay 6-1 to advance to the tournament final after Pastore scored the team's second goal and assisted ngel Di Mara for the third. Pastore went off for Éver Banega in the 81st minute in the final against Chile on July 4th; Chile claimed the title with a 4–1 penalty shoot-out win.

Pastore was part of Argentina's 23-man team for the Copa América Centenary in 2016. Argentina advanced to the final, only to miss out on penalties to Chile once more.

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