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14th Apr 2015

Cantona: Messi? Ronaldo? Non! The best player in the world is…Javier Pastore

You're Javier laugh...

Nooruddean Choudry

As the whole world argues about which one of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi is the greatest footballer on the planet, Eric Cantona has come up with his own verdict – neither.

In comments that are both surprising and in some ways entirely predictable, the Manchester United legend plumped for Javier Pastore when asked who had impressed him most of the current crop of world stars.

“For me, today, the best player in the world, the most exciting player in the world, is Pastore from Paris St Germain. Why? Because I watched two games just to see Pastore playing, giving passes. He has got something special,” said Cantona.

Pastore – who made two substitute appearances for Argentina at the World Cup – has been an important fixture in the PSG side, but even at the Parc des Princes he has been overshadowed by Zlatan Ibrahimović.

It would be somewhat understandable if the Argentine was a young prospect in whom Cantona saw some hidden genius, but the player is nearly 26 and has yet to set the footballing world on fire.

Still, we’re not going to pick an argument with Le Roi. It never ends well…