When Javier Pastore arrived at Aeroport Charles de Gaulle in August 2011 to join up with Paris Saint-Germain, his trademark playboy locks had been shorn. Instead, he sported twin tramlines on the side of his head that would have made Vanilla Ice blush, the sort of go-faster stripes that declared that the Argentinian prodigy meant business.

The change wasn't even skin-deep, it turned out, as Pastore has struggled to adapt to French football. That wasn't entirely surprising, after a player ...

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