Why Chelsea and Real Madrid are Willing to Splash Cash on Pastore
Argentine playmaker Javier Pastore has attracted huge interest from the world's best teams, which could see his current club Palermo cash in on the 22-year-old.
Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini is resigned to losing his prized asset, but has slapped an astronomical 50million euro price tag on his top scorer's head.
Zamparini has revealed that Pastore is likely to make a move abroad after an initial interest from Serie A rivals Napoli failed to materialise. The team's president confirmed that although there is widespread interest across the continent, the likes of Real Madrid and Chelsea are leading the chase.
So what would Pastore's considerable talents bring to his prospective suitors? In this review we'll examine the attacking midfielder's stats from last season against his counterparts in the same positions at the Bernabeu and Stamford Bridge.
Goals / Conversion
In 34 starts last season, Argentina international Pastore finished as Palermo's top scorer from an advanced position with 11 goals having attempted an average of 2.3 shots per game.
His goal tally is significantly higher than that of both Mesut Ozil and fellow Argentine Angel Di Maria, who both netted 6 in La Liga last term. However, it is worth taking into consideration that Di Maria's chance conversion rate is almost identical to Pastore's, while Ozil, who attempted just 0.8 shots per game, has a far greater conversion rate due to his tendency to look for the pass over a shot.
The attacking midfielder's at Chelsea were far more prolific, with England international Frank Lampard's tally of 10 goals coming from just 23 starts. His team-mate Florent Malouda finished with 13 having played a part in every game for the Blues last season. Lampard had an identical average of shots per game to Pastore, while Malouda's conversion rate was greater having attempted less than his colleague with 1.8.
Assists / Key Passes
An area in which Pastore would certainly need to improve in order to fit into Jose Mourinho's Madrid side is his ability to assist his team-mates. The Argentine's figure of 5 is significantly lower than the totals of Ozil (17) and Di Maria (11), despite starting more games. Ozil also completed an impressive team high average of 3.3 per game, bettering Pastore's score of 2.2, though the Palermo man did top Di Maria's total of 2 per game.
It is clear that he would need to do less in this regard to fit into Chelsea's set-up, with Lampard (2) and Malouda (4) assisting just 6 goals between them. However, the duos limited assists could be placed down to misfiring strikers under Ancelotti last term, with both averaging good figures in terms of key passes per game, Lampard with 2.2 and Malouda, a team high of 3.1.
Pass Success rate
If the 22-year-old were to fit in with either outfit, it is safe to say that his stats in terms of the percentage of passes he completes would need to improve dramatically. In his role behind the striker, Pastore saw plenty of the ball, making an average of 47.3 passes per game, however his pass success rate stood at just 73%.
Again, German international Mesut Ozil had a significantly greater success rate of 85% having averaged 40.1 passes per game. If Pastore were to join Madrid than one could make the assumption that it could be to the detriment of his countryman Di Maria, whose stats, although better than Pastore in this regard, are notably worse than his colleague Ozil. The 23-year-old made an average of just 29.2 passes per game, admittedly from a wider position, but saw just 76% of his attempts reach their target.
Lampard and Malouda at Chelsea also had markedly higher pass success rates with 82% and 83% respectively. The former was pivotal to Chelsea's play when not hampered by a groin injury; making 53.5 passes on average per match, while Malouda made 43.7.
Something different?
An area in which Pastore trumps all of his potential team-mates is the amount of successful dribbles he completes per match. The highly rated midfielder completed a team high average of 2.6 dribbles a game, with only Di Maria coming close with 1.9. Frank Lampard made just 0.3 dribbles in an average match at Stamford Bridge, and due to his age, Pastore would no doubt be touted as a long term replacement for the 33-year-old.
Who would he benefit the most?
I would suggest that due to Chelsea's ageing squad, Pastore might be a more realistic target for Andre Villas-Boas. Lampard is as old as his new manager, while Malouda, at 31, is no spring chicken. Real Madrid's creative duo of Ozil and Di Maria are just 22 and 23 respectively and after Mourinho completed the signing of fellow 22-year-old Nuri Sahin earlier in the summer, one would suggest that Pastore's immediate and long-term future may be more secure at the Bridge.