21 Apr 2015

Stunning claim: Legend insists €35m Liverpool target is world's 'most exciting player'

Liverpool are reportedly back in the race for Paris St. Germain attacker Javier Pastore, who was heavily linked with a move to Anfield during the 2013-14 season.

A report in Monday's Daily Express claims that:

* Pastore - nicknamed 'El Flaco' - is one of Liverpool's summer transfer 'targets'.

* Talks with PSG over a new contract are currently at an impasse.

Liverpool were last linked with Pastore in December 2013, and reports at the time claimed the Reds were favourites to seal the deal (if he decided to leave PSG)

Some info about Pastore:

* Cost PSG €42m (!) in 2011
* Current contract expires in 2016.
* 34 goals/34 assists in 176 games for PSG.
* Goal/assist every 2.5 games

* Last season: Admitted that the pressure of being at PSG affected his performances: "With the players that have come in, the pressure is no longer only on me. It's better for me to have less pressure. Other players have the burden. When the responsibility is shared it's better".

* Lionel Messi's assessment: "You can see he is tough, he's physically fit and he's going to go far, I am convinced of it. We played alongside each other [for Argentina] and we struck up a good understanding".

* Over the weekend, Laurent Blanc sounded a note of caution over Pastore. He told reporters: "Javier is just so unpredictable. [He] does things that only talented players can do [but] he [also] does that can't be rationally explained. He can sometimes put the team at risk [and] I must tell him off as he is someone who needs that."

Manchester United legend Eric Cantona is a huge fan of Pastore, and in a recent interview, he made the following bold claim:

"The best player in the world, the most exciting player in the world, is Pastore. He's got something special. He's the most creative player in the world today. I love this kind of player."

Cantona is entitled to his opinion, but there is no objective evidence whatsoever to back up his claim that the Argentina is the 'best', most 'exciting', and/or most 'creative' player 'in the world'. Indeed, Pastore himself has refuted Cantona's claim; speaking to reporters last night, he mused:

"I thank him [Cantona] for his praise [but] I don't share his view. I don't compare myself with the best. Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are incredible players".

A cursory glance at the respective goals/assist stats of Ronaldo, Messi, and Pastore reveals the obvious truth: Pastore is very far from being the most 'creative' player in the world.

Back to reality: PSG are reportedly willing to sell Pastore for €35m [25m], which is a comparatively reasonable price for the alleged 'best player in the world',

However, Liverpool can (arguably) do better. Pastore's goals/assists ratio is nothing special, and I'd rather see the Reds spend less on the likes of Andriy Yarmolenko or Roberto Firmino, players whose creative stats are far superior.

Author:


38 comments:

  1. Firmino infinitely preferable. Along with Depay, Vietto, Camacho, and Aurier.

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  2. Reports suggest that Henderson has signed a 5 year deal for 100k a week. I think it's great, he is so vital to every formation we play AND is producing the end product this year. Long may it continue.

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  3. Not tonight he wasn't

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  4. Watched Pastore tonight and he had an absolute mare, stay well clear of this lad he's nowhere near good enough.

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  5. Playing v Barca is not the easiest thing in the world. At the Camp Nou none the less. In any case we need to buy world class strikers before anything else. Give up on the Sturridge experiment. He wil never be able to lead LFC for a Season. Go into the offseason as if we have no strikers....period.

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  6. Watch another match, the guy is really good.

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  7. I like Verrati a bit more. Might be a trouble maker but holy shit, he can play football. A tough one between Kovacic and Verrati. Kovacic is from Inter, and name me a certain young talented brazillian midfielder from there as well? Will also cost a bit cheaper, but Verrati has got the nerves to play in big matches, definitely a hard choice.



    So yeah Fabian Delph it most likely is.

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  8. And Pjanic, Gungudon, Carvalho ....

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  9. Redboondocksaint11:29 pm, April 21, 2015

    Liverpool have a habit of turning players form around (example Sturridge, Coutinho.) Player out Sterling(Man City 50m) , Bolatelli (Italy 13m) , Borini (italy 10m) , Lambert (England 3m) , Coates (5m) , llori (5m) , Alberto(5m), Enrique(3m) = Money in 94m + 50m from FSG = 144m

    Players in Konoplyanka(free) , Milner (free), Pjanic (35m), Danny Ings (free) , Handovic (10m) , Montoya (9m), Pastore (15m) , Vietto(20m) , Papadopolous (7m) = 96m still left with 48m for other transfers Maybe 25m going to Depay leaving us with 25m for other transfers

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  10. You won't get Pastore for 15m, and I think there are better players available.


    Papadopoulos has trouble with injuries, so I don't think he would fit us.


    Milner will not do much for us except consume our wage money.


    Handanovic will not come here.


    I think that if we bring in Klopp we can potentially get Piszczek as well, who is better than Montoya


    No more Serie A players should be signed, so no Pjanic, unless they are young midfielders from Inter (Looking at you Kovacic)


    Ings will have to compete with Origi so I don't really think it would be a wise decision.


    The only acceptable transfers there are Konoplyanka and Vietto.


    And I very much pray that Sterling is not sold, and he shouldn't be. We must do whatever it takes to show him his place, and I think he is a potentially gifted player, and has proved to be last season as well.

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  11. If he's so good why are PSG willing to let him leave?

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  12. never heard of Camacho, who is he ? (are you talking about Ferreira-Carrasco ? the young belgian playing for Monaco ?)

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  13. does people have a problem with name-spelling ? or is this an English thing to misspell every players name on Earth ?

    Sorry to be rude but i guess pet peeve of mine to see people misspell name, i mean i can understand complicated name or putting a letter at the wrong place but going from Gundogan (i guess ?) to gungudon...

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  14. Pastore rebutted Cantona's claim. He didn't refute it, though it's almost certainly not true.

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  15. Haahaha.. It is an English thing. Pronaunciation is even more.. whatever that is..

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  16. Sorry, Kiv, but I does have a problem with name-spelling.

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  17. Geezer its not you don't worry......


    This English thing Kev alludes to is an epidemic contagious flu-type thing battering the British isles...


    its a heady mix of pollen, sandstorms and I can't be fu**** to hit my fu***** keyboard with any sense of purpose......

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  18. Yeah you and me bro...


    We've got too much stored energy and it shows in our accurate tapping of our keybourrdges.....


    Oh, sh**, I'evve ruun oot.....

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  19. I just read from a reliable source that it'd be a major surprise if BR kept his job.

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  20. Yeah you and me bro...

    We've got too much stored energy and it shows in our accurate tapping of our keybourrdges.....

    Oh, sh**, I'vve ruun oot.....

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  21. No bro they've all had lessons in phonics.....


    That and how to name transformers....

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  22. Ignacio Camacho? The main DM of Malaga? He's having quite a good season...

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  23. 5/6 high profile Managers 'll be available come June - Klopp, Rafa, AVB, Pelegrino, Galtier, Laudrop, De Boer...... may be even Ancellotti & Simione.


    Can we please discuss who 'll be most exciting for LFC fans?

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  24. I would like BR to stay on just so we can see what he tried to build this season as i believe some players have not settled but the last two names you mention, Ancellotti and Simione would be very hard to look away from if they became available and could somehow be convinced to come to LFC. Simeone to me is a bit of a gamble if we could get him as im not sure how he'd go in the prem but id like to see it.

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  25. Man U have got Depay - so lets not waste any more time on this = B R has got himself into a massive mess and unless we finish well I think the fans will push him out - just cant see a future - and Man U are 10 times stronger now

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  26. Think Firmino will go for more than £25m, but he is definitely the sort of quality we need

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  27. Sorry Kiv, but is it really that important? ;)

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  28. Haha! Although seriously, I'd prefer Delph getting into advanced positions over Allen

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  29. I've not seen him play enough to say and I know you can't go by just one game but when I watched last nights match against Barcelona Lucas Moura impressed me more . Out of the other players linked with us I hope we don't go for Ings or Immobile as I don't think they'll be that great for us . I recon Origi won't be scoring the goals we need to improve either . It's about time you brought in a top class striker mr Rodgers .

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  30. Don't forget to start your sentences with capitals whilst we're taking English lessons.

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  31. Not to mention not putting spaces before punctuating.

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  32. Pronunciation even..

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  33. Brendan Rodgers. He's the manager remember?

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  34. Go to a site called Liverpool-rumours.co.uk. They're quite underground and unknown, which is good becuase it means they don't try to get the first scoop on everything, which encourages some fabrication. It's run by two guys who know people in the club. You post questions, and they answer them. They seem to get basically everything right.

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  35. Good player but with the lack of consistency...........

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  36. unusual for me I think you'll find. Replying on my mobile -couldn't be bothered to look it up.


    But if you're pulling people up on stuff like this, your post should have read DO people, not DOES people ;-)

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