Alright, so there's still nothing from Palermo about Javier Pastore, although the deadline seems to have worked from their perspective - the Serie A side are claiming that both Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain have submitted bids for the Argentinian midfield mastermind. But they won't make a decision for a few days, because that would be sensible and not-annoying, and Palermo couldn't be having that.

At the moment we are waiting and will make a decision in the next few days, after [Thursday]'s Europa League game against Thun. We have received interesting offers from Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.

-Sean Sogliano, Palermo director of sport. Source: Sky Sports News.

I wouldn't expect Pastore to actually be playing in that Europa League match on account of the risk of the club losing a lot of money if he gets injured, which means that using that as a barrier in time is utterly nonsensical, especially since manager Stefano Pioli isn't actually required to do any selling. To use a fake conversation as a poor metaphor:

Person 1: I'll start looking at building your new computer on Wednesday

Person 2: Why Wednesday?

Person 1: It's when my roomate does the laundry.

Anyway, I think it's well established that I'm thoroughly annoyed (although more than a little bit amused) by Palermo's antics throughout this transfer saga. I still expect Chelsea to secure him, mostly because  I can't see PSG being an inviting destination for him, but it might take a little longer than we'd all like. Oh, and if you were curious as to what PSG have to say about all of this, here's Leonardo:

It's true, I have a good rapport with Palermo President Maurizio Zamparini and everyone would like a player like Pastore. We are working on possibilities and want to bring players who above all believe in our project. At the moment our priority is to sign a new goalkeeper, as we are missing someone in that role.

A cynical man might read this as saying 'Maurizio Zamparini asked me to get involved to jack up the transfer fee. I need a goalkeeper'. They would also note that at no point did Leonardo actually confirm that PSG were actually chasing Pastore. For those who haven't noticed, I am a deeply cynical man.