Javier Pastore's Insight on World Cup and Enzo Fernández
Javier Pastore stands a generation below Lionel Messi, but he has shared a dressing room with him for Argentina and carved out his own legend at PSG. Now, “El Flaco” watches this World Cup from a different angle: retired from the pitch, based in Madrid, and acting as the legal representative of Enzo Fernández, one of the tournament’s central midfield metronomes.
We caught up with him in Miami, at an AFA event tied to the federation’s global academy expansion, and found a man both relaxed and razor clear about what he’s seeing.
A World Cup that refuses to follow the script
Pastore isn’t watching this World Cup as a nostalgic ex-pro. He’s locked in.
“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.
The surprise packages have his attention, but the full stadiums have his heart. Packed stands, colour everywhere, noise from the first whistle to the last — it all takes him back.
He hasn’t missed Argentina’s games. “I’ve experienced all of Argentina’s matches, and I’m very happy with everything I’ve seen from the team,” he adds. There’s no tactical lecture, no overcomplication. Just satisfaction with a side that looks like a contender again.
Spain, France… and the dream of a final
Ask Pastore to imagine the final and his mind goes straight to the heavyweights.
A Spain–Argentina showdown? He doesn’t hesitate. “It would be a nice opponent,” he admits, before widening the lens.
“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 message is clear. He respects the style and depth of Spain, fears the power and pedigree of France, but everything, for him, starts with Argentina actually reaching that stage. Only then does the choice of rival become a problem worth having.
Enzo Fernández, the adaptable centerpiece
If Messi is still the reference point, Enzo Fernández is the new engine. Pastore knows him better than most; he’s not just an admirer, he’s his legal representative.
“He is well, very positive, he is having a very good World Cup,” Pastore says. “In the first two matches he helped the team win comfortably.”
No hyperbole. Just the conviction of someone who sees the work behind the performances.
The fascinating part is where Enzo does that work. Defensive midfielder? Central midfielder? Box-to-box? Pastore has watched that evolution up close.
“Enzo has changed his position a great deal in recent years. He has played much deeper or as a midfielder getting into the box,” he explains.
With the national team, the picture shifts again. “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.”
It’s a concise description of a modern midfielder: start at the base, finish near the forwards, stitch everything in between.
Future club? Madrid on the horizon, Chelsea in the present
Speculation follows Enzo wherever he goes. Real Madrid sit at the center of most of it. Pastore, who now lives in the Spanish capital, understands why the noise never stops, but he draws a line.
“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.
That’s the priority. The rest can wait.
Behind the scenes, though, the situation is moving. “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.” No agreement, no advanced deal, no done transfer. Just an open future and a player whose stock keeps rising on the biggest stage.
The Madrid question won’t go away, of course. Enzo has never hidden his admiration for the club.
“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 says.
The city itself also pulls him in. “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 bond is personal, not contractual. For now.
PSG, dominance and a simple ‘no’
Mention PSG and Pastore’s eyes inevitably return to Paris, the club where he became an icon between 2011 and 2018. From the early days of the Qatari project to the fully formed superclub, he lived the transformation from inside the dressing room.
How long can this version of PSG stay at the top of Europe? Pastore doesn’t hesitate.
“They have a squad to keep dominating, they are young, they have a lot of ambition to keep winning,” he says.
He points straight to the man 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, in his eyes, is the key piece. “Luis Enrique is a coach with tremendous ambition and the club has made everything available to him to keep achieving great things.” Ambitious players, an ambitious coach, a club still obsessed with Europe. The formula, on paper, is built to last.
Would Pastore, in his prime, like to be part of this PSG?
The answer lands with a smile and a sting. “No, not even close,” he laughs.
It’s the kind of line only a man at peace with his own story can deliver — one who has already lived the pressure, the lights, the expectations, and now watches the next generation, including Enzo Fernández, try to write something even bigger.
