Javier Pastore on Enzo Fernández and the World Cup Challenge

Javier Pastore stands a couple of footballing generations behind Lionel Messi, but their careers still intersected in sky blue and white. The elegant former playmaker, idolised at PSG between 2011 and 2018 and once of Elche, now works on the other side of the game as the legal representative of Enzo Fernández.

We caught up with “El Flaco” in Miami, at an AFA event tied to Argentina’s global academy expansion, to talk Enzo, the World Cup and the changing face of European power.

A World Cup that refuses to follow the script

Pastore has seen enough tournaments to recognise when one breaks pattern.

“I’m watching a very competitive World Cup, with teams we weren’t expecting much from and that are putting up a fight,” he said, clearly energised by the chaos. Full stadiums, noise, colour – the kind of backdrop he once thrived in.

“I like seeing all the stadiums full; I’ve experienced all of Argentina’s matches, and I’m very happy with everything I’ve seen from the team.”

Argentina, backed by a travelling army and the aura of reigning champions, have not had it all their own way. But Pastore’s tone carries calm rather than concern. This is a World Cup where reputations mean less than resilience.

Spain, France… and a dream final

Asked whether a Spain–Argentina final – a nod to his two adopted footballing homelands – feels realistic, Pastore doesn’t hesitate to frame the scale of the challenge.

“It would be a nice opponent,” he admitted. “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.”

No romantic detours. No easy paths. If Argentina are to lift another World Cup, Pastore knows it will likely run through one of Europe’s heavyweights.

Enzo Fernández, the midfielder who never stands still

Pastore now has a direct stake in Argentina’s present. As Enzo Fernández’s legal representative, he watches the Chelsea midfielder’s World Cup with a different kind of tension.

“He is well, very positive, he is having a very good World Cup,” Pastore said. “In the first two matches he helped the team win comfortably.”

The role Enzo occupies has evolved rapidly, and Pastore has seen the transformation 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 explained. “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 key. In a modern game obsessed with specialists, Enzo offers something rarer: a midfielder who can screen, dictate and arrive in the box, all while orbiting around Messi’s genius without getting in the way.

Real Madrid, Chelsea and a future in motion

With that profile, the Real Madrid question is inevitable.

“Do you see him at Real Madrid?” draws a measured but clear response from Pastore.

“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 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 denials. No declarations either. Just a reminder that, for now, the World Cup comes first and the market waits its turn.

The Madrid link is not built on fantasy. It comes from familiarity.

“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 said. “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 city sells itself. The rest will depend on offers, timing and how far Enzo rides this World Cup wave.

PSG, dominance and the Luis Enrique era

Mention PSG and Pastore’s status needs no introduction. For many supporters, he symbolised the club’s first great modern leap.

So how long can their current grip on European football last?

“They have a squad to keep dominating, they are young, they have a lot of ambition to keep winning,” he said. The praise quickly turns to the man on the touchline. “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.”

The message is clear: this isn’t a fleeting cycle built on one star or one season. It’s a structure designed to last, with a coach whose hunger matches the club’s resources.

Would Pastore, at his peak, fancy a place in that side?

“No, not even close,” he replied, laughing.

A line delivered with humility, but also with the awareness of how far the game – and PSG – have moved on. For Enzo Fernández and his generation, that’s the landscape they must now conquer.