There have been lots of rumours that Chelsea are going to make a move for the Argentine play-maker Javier Pastore. Although he is an excellent player with good awareness and composure on the ball, I feel it would not be the best option.
His Cost
Pastore is a good player, but Palermo are asking 50 million euros for him which is far too much! I rate him at around 30 million. He’ll need to contribute at least 20 assists as well as scoring 15 goals to prove value for money. Although, he has been behind many of Palermo goals, that price is just too much given his age and experience. A big question is how can they ask so much for a player who cannot even make it into Argentina’s first XI ?
His Chances of adaptability to the English game
The English game is very fast and physical, which means you get a lot less time and space to show your full abilities. Two negatives surrounding Pastore apart from the transfer fee is that he is quite slow and does not have a physically strong. There would be no time here to do his fancy back-heal passes and average crosses. So, why take gamble on someone so unproven?
Emergence of Josh McEachran
Josh McEachran in very young, he has a huge amount of talent that is yet to be exploited. He has already shown his great composure on the ball, the ability to play inch perfect passes, as well as good pace and body control, plus awareness and so much confidence that he could become the next Lampard and Essien combined. He has shown ability that Pastore does not even show on his best day, and we get all of Josh’s talent for not a single penny! What else do we need? The arrival of Pastore will mean more bench appearances for this young man, which would mean that his talent goes rotten.
Availability of cheaper and better options
When it comes to creative midfield players, there are much cheaper options available. Examples of this are Luka Modric and Joao Moutinho. Modric has proven himself to be a great player by helping Tottenham to reach the Champions League in 2010 season, he is more cool and calm and much better than Pastore. Moutinho has proven his worth by helping Porto to win the treble last season. Why not go for one of them?
Is he really the man to land the Holy Grail?
Absolutely not, if he was the “next best” he should at least have taken Palermo to Europe single-handedly. Sanchez took Udinese to Europe and Eden Hazard helped Lille win the ligue1. These players are in the same price bracket as of Pastore. If you had the choice, who would you buy?
by Mubariz Ahmed