Why Palermo's Javier Pastore isn't ready for a move to Chelsea

As Javier Pastore fires low past Mariano Andujar to complete his hat-trick and ensure victory over Catania in the Derby di Sicilia, many Palermo fans are in such a state of ecstasy that if you were to suggest their Argentine superstar cannot walk on water they would laugh you out of town.

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It’s 4:40pm on Sunday, November 14, 2010, and Pastore is fast becoming the sensation of the season in Italy. While elsewhere the same day Udinese’s Antonio Di Natale is also earning himself a match ball, it is Pastore who is rightly making everyone sit up and take notice. The proclamations of Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini – who responded by slapping a €70 million (£61m) price tag on his star man – might be nothing new, but the early comparisons with players such as Zinedine Zidane begin to seem more justified.

Fast forward to May 29, 2011 and the Olimpico in Rome. Pastore has again failed to deliver for his side at the business end of the campaign, with two decent opportunities having been squandered as the Sicilians control large periods of the Coppa Italia final, only to have Samuel Eto’o and Inter teach them a lesson on how to take your chances. It’s the end of six long months for the shepherd’s flock, as they have been left to watch their team waste their early season promise, with a disappointing spell for the No.27 the feature of the run. Meanwhile, Di Natale and his side have kicked on and qualified for Champions League football.

However, the natural consequence of this has been a tailing off once the rest of the league has caught up on fitness levels, and in both campaigns in Italy Pastore has been ready for the season’s end long before his contemporaries. His lack of upper body power has proven a weakness in more and more games through the spring, while his natural thirst for football has also been less evident.

Bearing all this in mind, there are few places one would suggest Pastore is worse suited to than the Premier League. For all of his natural talent on the ball, the speed at which the game is played and the physical capabilities that are demanded of players in England are just not in keeping with the attacker’s attributes.

And if any side is the hallmark of the power game in the Premier League it is Chelsea. Armed with players of the ilk of Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Michael Essien and John Terry, the Blues are no Arsenal. Their game is hardly conducive to a player slowing the play down, bringing the ball under his spell, and seeing two opponents off with a nifty turn. Instead they are the epitome of the bustling pace at which football is played in England.

This would suggest that a €45m (£39.7m) splash on Pastore may not be the best move Chelsea have ever made. Andre Villas-Boas will be looking to lead his side to the title at his first attempt, but the wisdom of basing their hopes around a playmaker who does not have the physical capabilities to match the team’s demands may well be ill-conceived at best.

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