Full name: Javier Matías Pastore
Country: Argentina
Age: 21
Date of Birth: 20/06/89
Position: Attacking Midfielder
Clubs: Talleres, Huracan, Palermo
For the two years he has been in Italy, Javier Pastore has been a breath of fresh air in the peninsula and has been linked with whole hosts of clubs since his arrival at Palermo. Real Madrid, Manchester City, Roma, Barcelona have been eyeing with the elegant playmaker but the club president Maurizio Zamperini has put a £50 million price tag on his head.
Javier Pastore started his club career with Talleres in Argentina, the club he supported as a boy. He worked his way up from the youth team to make five appearances for the club during the 2007-2008 season.
The following season he signed for Huracan and though he only played for them for oneseason his performances were magnificent and a number of European clubs were targeting him.
During the season he played for Huracan, they were runners up of the 2009 Clausara championship. With Matias Defederico and Mario Bolatti in the side, they were praised for their attacking style of play but were very unlucky not to win the championship as on the final day as they lost to Champions Velez Sarsfield 1-0 in a game that was packed with controversial refereeing decisions.
In the summer of 2009 Palermo successfully fought of the competition from the likes of Manchester United, AC Milan, Porto and Chelsea for the signature of Javier Pastore, shelling out around £8 million.
During his first season at the club under the stewardship of coaches Walter Zenga, and later Delio Rossi, the player forged a successful partnership with Fabrizio Miccoli and Edinson Cavani. Under Walter Zenga he was used as a second half substitute for the most part as he adapted to the Italian game.
But under Delio Rossi Pastore was given the chance to play behind the front two. Thanks to his performances, Palermo finished fifth in his first season and qualified for the Europa League. Also in his first season he won the Serie A Young Footballer of the Year for 2010.
During this current season, Pastore managed to score his first hat-trick for the club, even more special was the fact that it came in the Derby della Siclila against Catania. He has been the go to man for the majority of the season for Palermo, and despite a small dip in form he has shown the world what a talent he is.
In the summer we could see Pastore moving on, as he has been linked with a host of European clubs, and with the Rosanero not qualifying for Europe, Zamparini may find this the right time to let one of his jewels go, but what is Palermo’s loss will definitely be someone elses gain.
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