Ligue 1: Javier Pastore and the Top Performing Transfers

Each year, teams acquire new pieces in an effort to reach their goals. Some meet expectations, and others fail to live up to their billing.

There are also those who fly under the radar, but end up having a significant impact.

With 11 games gone by in the Ligue 1 schedule, enough futbol has been played to begin dissecting which moves have had the biggest impacts on the Ligue 1 season to date. 

Javier Pastore, PSG

This one is a no-brainer.

Pastore came with the highest price tag to the most talked about team in Ligue 1 this summer. Expectations for the midfielder were out of this world, but for good reason.

He was highly successful in Italy, and the subject of massive transfer bids from the likes of Chelsea.

Pastore started slowly as he familiarized himself with his new teammates, but he has found his comfort zone since the beginning of September. His ability to affect the game in every offensive aspect has made PSG the top scoring team in Ligue 1.

Pastore is a threat as both a creator and a finisher. His volley against Montpellier is a Goal of the Year candidate and showed off his incredible technical ability.

His tally of five goals and two assists in Ligue 1 is only scratching the surface of his real value. 

Kevin Gameiro, PSG

Staying with the Parisians, Gameiro was no stranger to Ligue 1 fans when he made the switch from Lorient to PSG this past summer.

He had been near the top of the goal scoring tables for the last few years. His addition to the capital city outfit raised the scoring expectations even more.

Surrounded by the talent in place, it was easy to assume KG would have more opportunities to find the back of the net, and Gameiro has not disappointed, as he leads Ligue 1 with eight goals through the first 11 fixtures.

His clinical finishing ability fits in perfectly with the playmakers he is surrounded by.

As all the new additions to the team continue to find their comfort level with each other, Gameiro could find himself staring at 30-plus for the domestic campaign. 

Frederic Sammaritano, AC Ajaccio

It would be easy to include more players from PSG, as Menez and others have made a significant impact to this point, but there is futbol outside of Paris.

It is sometimes hard to look at a team at the bottom of the table and talk about an impact player, but Frederic Sammaritano has been the most influential piece for AC Ajaccio.

Since coming over from Auxerre, Sammaritano has scored four goals and provided one assist from his midfield position. Without his abilities in the midfield, Ajaccio would be more than the two points they currently stand from the safe zone.

It takes more than a single player to prevent relegation for a newly promoted team, but if Sammaritano can keep up his form, Ajaccio could find themselves in position to fight for another year at the top level. 

Stephane Ruffier, ASSE

I never miss a chance to throw my beloved Les Verts a bone, but Ruffier’s play since coming over from Monaco has been the key to ASSE sitting in the eighth position.

Ruffier has come up with several top-notch saves in close games this season. In this past week’s game against Valenciennes, Ruffier denied a golden Kadir scoring chance with a tremendous reflex save to keep the game even at that point.

All four of Saint Etienne’s wins this season have been by a single goal. Throw in the four draws, and the importance of the goalkeeper becomes even more magnified.

As long as Ruffier continues his fine form between the posts, ASSE has an outside shot at Europe. If that were to happen, the House of Fontaine would be a joyous place, and Monsieur Ruffier would have erased the painful memories of the summer escapes from Saint Etienne.

There are many other faces in new places that have been influential on their clubs' form to date.

The impact of the four mentioned above on the rest of the season is anybody’s guess, but their performances to date deserved to be discussed.

Hopefully, over the next few months, others outside of France will begin to take notice.