Javier Matías Pastore (Spanish pronunciation: [xaˈβjeɾ maˈti.as pasˈtoɾe]; born 20 June 1989) is an Argentine professional footballer who is currently a free agent.

An attacking midfielder, Pastore began his club career with Talleres and then Huracán in his native Argentina before moving to Serie A team Palermo in 2009 for a reported transfer fee of €4.7 million.

On 11 July 2009 Palermo formally announced the signing of Pastore for five years until 30 June 2014, with the transfer fee listed at approximately €4.7 million.

[4][6][7] Before his move to Palermo, the player was also linked to number of other top European clubs, including Manchester United, Porto, Milan and Chelsea.

In his first season at Palermo, Pastore proved himself as being a promising but inexperienced youngster, playing mostly as a second-half substitute under head coaches Walter Zenga and, later, Delio Rossi.

[9] On 30 July 2011, Palermo club president Maurizio Zamparini revealed that a fee had been agreed over Javier Pastore's transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.

[17] As with 2015–16, he missed a large portion of the season through injuries, but returned to the PSG starting line-up for Le Classique against rivals Olympique de Marseille, where he assisted Edinson Cavani in a 5–1 Ligue 1 away win on 26 February 2017.

[18] Three days later, he came on as a substitute and scored the opening goal, before assisting Cavani again as PSG defeated Ligue 2 club Chamois Niortias 2–0 to reach the quarter-final stage of the 2016–17 Coupe de France.

[19] On 19 March 2017, Pastore assisted both of PSG's goals by crossing the ball to the scorers Adrien Rabiot and Julian Draxler in their 2–1 Ligue 1 home win over Lyon.

[36] Later that year, Pastore was selected by coach Gerardo Martino for the 2015 Copa América,[37] and started in the team's opening fixture against Paraguay in La Serena.

[38] At the semi-final stage, Pastore scored the team's second goal and assisted Ángel Di María for the third as Argentina defeated Paraguay 6–1 to reach the tournament final.

[42] An elegant, creative and technically gifted advanced playmaker, with excellent dribbling skills and close control, Pastore is capable of playing in several offensive roles, due to his ability to both score and create goals.

[24][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50] A talented, strong, quick and hard-working right-footed player,[45] his playing style has drawn comparisons to Kaká, Zinedine Zidane, Zlatan Ibrahimović and one of his childhood idols, Enzo Francescoli, although Pastore has stated that his main influence is compatriot Juan Román Riquelme.