Javier Pastore Reflects on World Cup and Enzo Fernández's Journey
Javier Pastore leans back, smiles, and watches another World Cup from a very different seat.
Two generations younger than Lionel Messi yet once a teammate of his with Argentina, the former PSG playmaker is now navigating a new role: legal representative and close advisor to Enzo Fernández. In Miami, at an AFA event tied to the federation’s expanding network of academies, “El Flaco” spoke with the calm of someone who has seen the game from every angle.
A World Cup that refuses to follow the script
Pastore is enjoying this tournament. Not because it has been predictable, but precisely because it has not.
“I’m watching a very competitive World Cup, with teams we weren’t expecting much from and that are putting up a fight,” he says. Stadiums are full, noise pouring down from the stands, and Argentina’s path has gripped him. “I’ve experienced all of Argentina’s matches, and I’m very happy with everything I’ve seen from the team.”
There is no nostalgia in his tone, only satisfaction. He has lived it on the pitch; now he lives it from the box.
Spain, France… and the dream final
His career has always been tied to two football cultures: Argentina and Spain. So the question comes naturally. Could there be a Spain–Argentina final?
“It would be a nice opponent,” Pastore replies. No romantic detours, just a clear reading of the landscape. “I think France and Spain are the toughest opponents we could end up facing in a final, so let’s hope we can make it there, because that’s the most important thing.”
The ambition is still there. The realism too. He knows how thin the margins are at this level.
Enzo Fernández, between the lines and between eras
Pastore now lives part of this World Cup through Enzo Fernández, a player he represents and clearly admires.
“He is well, very positive, he is having a very good World Cup,” Pastore explains. “In the first two matches he helped the team win comfortably.”
The conversation quickly turns to tactics, to the subtle evolution of Enzo’s role.
“Enzo has changed his position a great deal in recent years,” Pastore says. “He has played much deeper or as a midfielder getting into the box. Here with the national team he starts deep, but in the end he is the only midfielder who gets up to the attacking line and stays close to Messi. He is a player who adapts very well to any type of position.”
That last line is not casual. In modern football, versatility is currency. Enzo has it. And Pastore knows exactly what that means in the market.
Chelsea, Real Madrid and a future in motion
Speculation follows talent, and Enzo’s name has drifted towards the biggest of stages: Real Madrid. Pastore does not dodge the subject, but he keeps it anchored to reality.
“Today the player is calmly thinking about the national team, he is playing in a World Cup, he is very close to reaching the round of 16…” he says. “He is only thinking about that and we are looking at possibilities to leave Chelsea, but there is nothing firm or confirmed at any club.”
The key phrase drops quietly: “possibilities to leave Chelsea.” No drama, no headlines forced. Just a clear admission that the future is open and being studied.
The Madrid angle is impossible to ignore, especially when the player himself has spoken of his affection for the city.
“He has many friends there, and he is very close friends with Julián Álvarez, and in the end, whenever they can spend time together, they are together there,” Pastore explains. The connection is personal as much as professional. “And I also live in Madrid. Every time he traveled, he traveled to see me and to sort out work-related matters, but besides that: who doesn’t like Madrid? I never even played in Madrid... I even live there.”
The subtext is clear: Madrid is a place of life, not yet of contract. For now, the only shirt that matters to Enzo is Argentina’s.
The PSG giant and Luis Enrique’s hunger
Mention PSG and Pastore’s expression changes slightly. He spent seven years in Paris, long enough to become part of the club’s modern identity. From there, he looks at the current version of the team with a mixture of pride and admiration.
“They have a squad to keep dominating, they are young, they have a lot of ambition to keep winning,” he says. The key, in his view, sits on the bench. “A coach who has understood the players and the club perfectly at the moment it was in, he has won the Champions League two years in a row, he has truly done incredible things and I think he is going to continue along that path. Luis Enrique is a coach with tremendous ambition and the club has made everything available to him to keep achieving great things.”
It is a strong endorsement from someone who knows the demands and the weight of that shirt. PSG, in his eyes, is built to stay at the top, not just visit it.
Would he fit into this version of PSG? The question is half-serious, half-teasing. Pastore doesn’t hesitate.
“No, not even close,” he fires back, laughing.
The line lands with the ease of someone at peace with his past and curious about what comes next—for himself, for Enzo, and for an Argentina side still chasing the next chapter of its story on the biggest stage of all.
