Javier Matias Pastore is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for French club Paris Saint-Germain and the Argentina national team. He started playing in his native club Talleres. In 2009, he moved to the Italian club Palermo for 4.7 million euros and began his European career. In 2011, he moved to PSG for $40 million. As part of the Parisian club, he won 13 trophies, and apparently, this is far from the limit. He has been playing in the national team since 2010, in total he played 29 games and scored 2 goals (participated in the 2014 World Cup, where he won the silver medal).
Biography, early career
Javier Pastore was born on June 20, 1989 in Cordoba, Argentina. The family has Italian roots, lived for some time in Turin. He began his football career in the youth system of the Argentinean club Talleres in 1998. The guy showed great football and was an indispensable leader in his team. In 2007, the leadership of Talleres offered the young talent a professional contract, which Javier Pastore could not refuse. In the same year, the guy made his debut in the second division of Argentina. In total, in the 2007/08 season he played five games and made twoassists. The following season, Pastore was loaned to the Huracan club, in which the guy revealed his potential even more. During the 2008/09 season, he played 31 matches and scored 8 goals in his statistics. The success of the nineteen-year-old football player has attracted interest from some European clubs who wanted to get his hands on. One of these was the Italian "Palermo", which in July 2009 officially announced the transfer of Javier Pastore. The contract was signed for five years, and the transfer fee of the Argentine was almost 5 million euros. In the struggle for his transfer, giants such as Manchester United, Porto, Milan and Chelsea fought. Pastore chose Palermo, because in this club he will be able to constantly get game practice and be a leader in the team, which could not be done in the above clubs.
Career in Italy: paired with Edinson Cavani
The first match for the Pink-and-Blacks took place on August 15 as part of the Coppa Italia Cup against the SPAL team, and eight days later the Argentine made his debut in Serie A and helped his team defeat Napoli with a score 2:1. Javier Pastore's first breakthrough and spectacular game was against Juventus on October 4, 2009. The Argentine midfielder felt great on the field and set the whole rhythm of the game. Twice he acted as a dispatcher for his teammate Edinson Cavani (with whom they will play together at Paris Saint-Germain) and controlled almost all the attacks of his club. As a result - 2:0 in favor of the "pink-black". All the world's media have started talking about the Argentinean.
In the 2010/2011 season on November 14, Javier Pastore scored his first professional hat-trick against Catania. In total, he played 69 games for Palermo and scored 14 goals. On July 30, the club's president stated that the Argentine was closely watched by France's main club, PSG, and that the parties had already agreed on a transfer that should take place within a few weeks.
PSG career: collected all the French trophies
On August 6, 2011, Javier Pastore (pictured below) officially signed for Paris Saint-Germain. The transition cost 40 million euros. The first goal for the "red-blue" Pastore scored against "Brest" on September 11, the goal of the Argentine was the only and victorious in the match. In the first season of the French Ligue 1, Javier took part in 33 matches and scored 13 goals. In subsequent seasons, the player regularly appeared in the first team. The debut goal in the Champions League came against Dynamo Kyiv in September 2012.
Together with the Parisians, Javier Pastore became a four-time winner of the French Championship Cup, four-time winner of the French Super Cup, three-time winner of the French League trophy and twice won the French Cup. In total, as of February 2018, he played 177 matches and scored 29 goals with the club.
Personal life of Javier Pastore
It is known that the Argentine midfielder is no longer a bachelor. Javier is married to the famous fashion model and TV presenter Chiara Pizone. In May 2015, their daughter Martina was born. A young family leads an active lifestyle, sharing happy moments on social networks. His personal Instagram page suggests that Javier loves morning runs, cool video games, barbecues and his two girls.
